


(Self-)Sacrifice

by Katherine737



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Time Travel, tiny crossover with Sanctuary's Helen Magnus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:55:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25144258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katherine737/pseuds/Katherine737
Summary: The ink in which our lives are inscribed is indelible.- So even if the Warehouse wants to send Myka back in time it won't be like meeting Helena in 1891 would change anything in the here and now, would it?
Relationships: Myka Bering/Helena "H. G." Wells
Comments: 24
Kudos: 94





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place a couple of uneventful months after Instinct.
> 
> Events in the past have cameo appearances of the tv show Sanctuary, it's not really important to know it, I was just having fun with the fantasy aspect of it all.

Myka allowed herself a small, satisfied smile as she ticked off the last object on her checklist. She had color-coded the artifacts according to the sector they were supposed to be in. It had been months, if not years, since she had last done this, but the routine had helped better than she had first expected. She felt good about herself and wasn’t dwelling on last night’s dream of different Helenas leaving the Warehouse (leaving her).

At least she wasn’t dwelling much.

She was pointedly not dwelling on Helena or Boone or anything when she was suddenly engulfed by the smell of apples. She closed her eyes, let her clipboard sink to her side, and took in a deep breath, reveling in the fact that, as of now, she seemed to belong to the elite group of people the Warehouse genuinely liked.

Myka's smile wavered when she opened her eyes to see a white envelope sit on the shelf in front of her. Prominent letters addressed it “To M.O.B.”. After checking that she was still wearing gloves Myka reached for it.

She did have neither Pete's vibes nor his incessant urge to touch everything, but somehow it was apparent to her that the Warehouse wanted her to pick up her letter.

“Yes!”

Claudia's cry of triumph echoed through the aisles, making Myka flinch.

“Claudia!”

“Who's the best inventor in the history of inventors ever? Me. Me. Me, me, me, Me!”

With Claudia's Me-song droning on, Myka made her way over to Claudia's workstation, opening the envelope as she walked.

“ _ Dear Ms M.O.B., _

_ It was promised that we would store a message in the Warehouse, reminding you that you need to come and visit us in London on the 2nd of December 1891. You introduced yourself to us as Marie Lapointe, the name of which you knew upon your arrival. _

_ With kind regards, Caturanga.” _

Time travel?

But that was impossible. There was no way...

“I did it! Congratulate me!”

“Congratulation Claudia.”

Myka reacted automatically to the overzealous greeting, her brain still occupied with the letter in her hand. London, 1891?

Helena would be 25, Christina barely a couple of months old.

“Myka! You're the first one here, you need to look at it!”

Sometimes Claudia was more like a five-year-old who had just put together a birthday present for her parents than an actual adult. Myka sighed, reminded herself that Claudia had grown into an adult living with Pete, and looked up.

Claudia stood in front of a strange construction of cogs and gears surrounding a huge armchair and an overgrown headset. It closely resembled another contraption that used to have two seats and hadn’t been attached to a computer.

“What have you done?”

“I upgraded it! And I double, triple and quadruple checked, everything is fine! I only need one test run.”

“I doubt Artie's going to allow a test run with, what exactly is that?”

“You can't tell?”

Claudia was nearly exploding with exuberance, only slightly confused by Myka's refusal to understand.

“It's my new and improved TIME MACHINE!”

“Time machine?”

Suddenly the note the Warehouse had just delivered to her made much more sense.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I am sure! Do I look like I would spend weeks on my new baby only to not be sure? I'm so sure, I could calibrate it to go back to Ancient Rome right now! Or Egypt? Doing Mani-Pedi with Cleopatra?”

That sounded worse and worse. And actually Claudia looked like she hadn't slept in days. Her short hair was standing in every direction, her jeans were sporting several spots, proof that she had at least eaten something, though Myka was fairly certain she didn't want to know what. Or when. Maybe she had only just returned to the bed and breakfast when she had woken Myka from her dreams.

“Ehm, Claudia, maybe...”

“Nope, no maybe! Myka! Artie is away for the weekend and I  _ need _ to test it!”

“You  _ need _ to?”

Although Claudia's huge eyes and bobbing head slightly resembled a starving puppy, Myka knew that she had to stay strong. It was supposed to be a quiet weekend and because she was in charge she would make certain that it would turn out that way.

“No, Claudia. You can ask Artie on Monday, but you need to find something else to do for the weekend.”

“Oh, come on. Please? Just a little, teensy test run?”

Myka raised her eyebrows.

“Did you change something about the 22 hours and 19 minutes?”

Chagrined, Claudia lowered her gaze.

“Not really? I tried, but I don't think it'll actually be any different. But I modified the energy income so that we won't have to burn through the Warehouse's main grid anymore.”

“So there is no way to make a 'little, teensy test run', is there?”

Technically her question didn't require an answer. Still, judging by the excitement in Claudia’s eyes, Myka was almost entirely certain that Claudia was about to launch into a long plea for her test run when they heard shuffling behind them.

“Hey, hey, hey!”

Pete and Steve were coming around the aisle. Myka could only hope that at least the latter would be on her side.

“Jinksy! Look, what we got! A state of the art new and improved TIME MACHINE! The Claudia-Donovan-Time-Machine!”

Steve stopped short, but Pete ran towards Claudia, immediately touching the seat and the headset.

“Awesome! Does it work? Can we try it?”

“No!”

Myka answered without giving Claudia a chance to say something. Instead she turned to Pete.

“Pete, where is the Artifact you were sent to retrieve?”

But Pete didn't even look up from Claudia's new creation.

“Was gone, we couldn’t find anything.”

“I beg your pardon?”

While Pete ignored her, Steve gave her his tablet, which was displaying a list of information.

“We found out that the same thing happened in the UK over a century ago. We have no idea, what it was, but when we arrived in Toronto, everything was fine and no one remembered a thing.”

“Which made it extra hard to question any witnesses,” Pete piped up while he examined the time display Claudia had integrated from HG's time machine.

“In essence these things showed up in three different big cities, Brighton, Cambridge and London, merely weeks apart. This one was the first incident, we can only study the older ones and wait for the next one.”

Looking at the past incidents, the deaths it caused, Myka shook her head.

“That is not an option. You need to do something now. It kills people.”

“Wanna tell me, why you're all so deliberately avoiding to name the Artifact or what it does?”

Claudia had her hands pressed into her waist and looked at them, clearly annoyed at being ignored. Myka shook her head, while Pete stage-whispered.

“Vampires!”

“What? Actual, real vampires? Awesome!”

“There are no actual, real vampires!” Myka protested quickly, while she scrolled to the incidents listed in Steve's document.

“Just like there were no zombies!” Pete countered, but quickly averted his eyes when Myka send him a death glare. They had agreed to never talk about that again. Ever.

“Remember when we thought we had met the actual Santa Claus? That was just one person's psyche; it won't be anything else with that. Especially considering that you two are going back to Toronto and try to come back with more than nothing!”

Now Pete stood tall, mildly annoyed.

“Mykes, we didn't do sloppy work, there really wasn't anything to find.”

“I don't believe that. It should be entirely possible to...”

She stopped talking when she reached the bottom of the document. These ‘vampire-occurrences’ had stopped in London, December 1891.

“Myka?”

That was not...

She took a second to consider all the facts.

There was an Artifact on the loose that gave people vampiric abilities. The incidents had last occurred in the month she had just been asked to visit. In every city at least one person was left behind, dead, entirely devoid of blood.

If there was even the slightest chance that there was something to be done, she shouldn't hesitate. It could save lives.

And really, what were the chances that she would run into Helena when the timeline suggested that she was at home, taking care of Christina?

So Myka handed the envelope over to Pete. He was more excited than worried, Steve only slightly concerned and Claudia was, of course, ecstatic. And so it was only minutes and a quick research of the Warehouse database later that Myka found herself in the strange but familiar machinery, on her way to Victorian London.

The only information about the person whose body she was about to occupy was her name, Marie Lapointe. The Warehouse records didn't have anything on the date, so Myka would have to go in blind. And she really hoped that she wouldn't have to speak French in an old-fashioned way. She was fairly certain that she could master the English language, but French was completely out of her league.

* * *

With that thought she found herself falling on cobblestones in a dark, dank back-alley, hearing someone shuffling behind her. Automatically, her hand shot toward her hip, finding nothing but skirts. Apparently Marie Lapointe didn't carry a gun. Giving herself a mental once-over, Myka realized that Marie wasn't carrying anything but the clothes on her body. Considering that it was December even those were pretty insufficient for the cold that permeated everything.

Myka whirled around but couldn’t see anyone. She squinted at the surrounding darkness. She was sure that she had heard someone.

Suddenly someone grabbed her around the waist.

Evidently her eyes weren’t used to the dark.

“Thank you, kind lady, for running away. It only makes the pursuit so much more enjoyable,” a deep voice whispered right into her ear. Myka froze. She didn't have her Tesla, didn't even have a normal gun, a big guy was practically feeling her up from behind, and god only knew how trained her body was.

As it turned out, not very.

She positioned her hands on the attacker's wrists and by putting as much of her body weight as possible on her hands, she managed to push them down. With the movement she turned around, grabbed the guy's wrist and dropped to the ground, using the momentum to break twin bones. A pained scream disrupted the nightly silence. Myka used his distraction to roll away, stumbling as she got up.

Her current body was certainly not used to this kind of action. One look into his dark, angry, eyes assured her that she needed to run. He was not ready to give up.

So she ignored the stinging in her hands and the protest of her muscles. Instead she gathered her skirts and started to race toward the glum, orange glow of what hopefully would be streetlights at the end of the alley. Illuminated by those she rushed on, still filled with dread as she heard someone behind her.

At the next turn two strong hands were at her again, pulling her into a dark corner. She screamed, struggled, and tried to jab her elbow into his stomach, but she kept missing, her clothes too tight to allow for proper aiming, and he didn't budge, holding her even tighter, seemingly waiting for something. Or someone.

There, right in front of her, was another guy, eerily red eyes fixed on hers, holding one hand to his upper body, like it hurt.

Before she could come up with a way to escape, two hooded figures came running from the opposite way. One looked her directly in the eyes.

“Duck!”

Instinctively she obeyed, bowing her upper body, trying to give her potential helper as much of a target as possible. Almost in the same second as she dropped to the ground a strangely familiar blue energy crackled over her head as her attacker slipped to the ground as well.

It was the first time she really saw his face. She noticed his red eyes just as they fluttered shut and sharp protruding teeth flashed white in the orange glow of the lights.

Myka felt her eyes growing wide. Vampires indeed.

“Come!”

A hand gripped at her wrist and she jerked away before she could control herself.

“I'm sorry, but we need to get you to safety before he wakes up again.”

The female voice sounded kind enough. She was clearly in a haste, which gave Myka a moment to appraise her while she talked to her company.

“Thomas, if you think you can handle it on your own, try to get him to the laboratory.”

Myka got up, balling her hands into fists to keep them from trembling and took a look at her saviors. The woman next to her shook off her hood, revealing blonde curls, while a tall, slender man kneeled down, apparently examining one of her attackers.

“He's unconscious. Good work, Magnus.”

His voice was unusually deep. It embraced Myka in a wave of peacefulness that made it hard to stay suspicious, which made her uncomfortable. She was wary about artifacts. Those two behaved like Agents, not at all fazed by what had just happened. And they has used something that looked suspiciously like a Tesla. It was weird though, the Warehouse records hadn't listed any incident on her arrival date. But then, somehow Caturanga must have known to ask for her.

“The other one is gone though,” the woman, Magnus, said.

At this Myka looked up only to watch a dark silhouette escaping at the mouth of the alley.

“He'll need help, I’m almost certain I broke his wrist.”

Both, Magnus and Thomas, lost their air of hurry and stopped to regard her with surprise. Remembering what they had just said, she decided to offer her help. They were obviously fighting the vampires.

“If you need to get him somewhere, I'm happy to help.”

Magnus recovered first, straightening her shoulders and losing a bit of her tension.

“Righty-ho then. Let's get him ready for transport, Thomas.”

With a short nod Thomas picked up the vampire and hung him over his shoulder, while Myka was trying to ignore the sting of the familiar expression that sounded so much like Helena.

“As you seem unlikely to scream or faint, would you do us a favor and alert us when he starts moving?”

“Of course.”

Magnus shook her head in obvious disbelief but lead the tiny procession to the next street.

With Magnus as scout and Myka having an eye on their load, they reached their destination undisturbed.

Their destination being a villa that was more equipped to be titled as castle than anything else. Who knew those existed in London?

As soon as the huge entrance doors closed behind them, a bright light flickered in front of them, buzzing excitedly. It took Myka a moment to grasp what she was seeing.

It was a tiny man, not bigger than four inches, wings flattering behind his back as he hovered in the air, right in front of them.

“Where have you been and what is Thomas carrying around? We don't need any more guests.”

“Liam, please contain yourself, you are about to give me a violent headache.”

Magnus admonished him as she ushered Thomas in and pointed him towards a door to the far left. She winked conspiratorially at Myka.

“It would be one of many.”

The tiny man immediately went on in his high-pitched voice.

“I heard that and I object to it! It is very important that I know what you are doing for there has been a letter delivered with a request for you to see a sick gnarl...”

“Are you being serious?”

The woman raised her eyebrows in evident surprise.

“I've been trying to get them to talk to me for ages and now that they need my help they suddenly remember my existence?”

Myka, who was still staring at the creature fluttering across the room, began questioning whether Claudia's improvements on the time machine had sent her to a completely different universe. These... beings didn't exist. She'd rather believe in different universes than...

“What was that?”

She heard herself ask, before she could stop herself. But as the woman turned her attention back to her there was only kindness in her gaze. Apparently she wasn't hurt by Myka's abrasiveness.

“Oh, I hope you can excuse me, I haven't even properly introduced myself. I am Dr. Helen Magnus, but you can call me Magnus, and that was Liam.”

Myka nodded, remembering the name that the letter had given her and shook the woman's hand. She was dressed in trousers and a blouse, entirely inappropriate for the century, just like the fact that she had a doctor’s degree.

“Marie Lapointe.”

Dr. Magnus made an inviting gesture.

“Welcome to the Sanctuary!”

“The Sanctuary?”

“Yes, we are a safe haven for creatures like Liam here.”

Liam, who had flown out of the huge entrance hall, returned with a letter that was almost as tall as himself. He pushed it toward Magnus and flew away again.

“Is he...”

The right word was there, but she wasn't sure she was able to say it.

“A fairy? Oh yes, he is. Though he likes the term FEH.”

“Faye?”

“F.E.H. Flying-exiguous-humanoid.”

“I see.”

Myka mumbled, completely confused. It was official. Claudia had transported her to some strange world that resembled the Victorian London, but evidently wasn't. That woman was talking about these creatures like there was a scientific explanation for their existence.

“You do?”

“And what was it that attacked me outside?”

“I don't know, yet. But I'm certain it will be most interesting to find out.”

“So, you research these creatures?”

“Abnormals. Yes. They're as much people as you and me. I am a doctor, researching them to help them.”

That made sense, in a weird and twisted way.

“I'm sure it can be a bit much to take in,” Magnus explained as she lead them into a huge library. The walls were covered with shelves of books that reached up to the ceiling. There were three cozy looking sofas arranged around a small desk. Several tables stood in the back, covered haphazardly with books. For any means and purposes it had the perfect air of a university library.

“I will have a maid with you in a minute, you can order anything you'd like to eat or drink. Do you have any complaints from the attack?”

Myka simply shook her head, dumbfounded. She gave herself a short once-over, but apart from the stinging in her hands and the fact that her body ached from the fall there wasn't anything unusual.

“Excellent.”

Magnus bestowed a radiant smile on her, while she finally opened the letter in her hand, skimming over the information, before she turned back to Myka.

“So, while I am certain that you have a lot of questions, I have to ask a favor of you.”

Myka simply raised her eyebrows.

“I am needed elsewhere and since you came into contact with a life form that seems to be vampiric in its origin you need to be under observation for at least a day.”

“A day?” Myka repeated. She only had 22 hours, no time to spend a day in quarantine. But she could play along.

“Yes, I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience, but there is a slight possibility that you might suffer from symptoms of the encounter.”

“Symptoms?”

“Well, don't be worried, we'll find out soon enough.”

That wasn't entirely encouraging, but Myka decided to nod anyway. There wasn't anything else she could do. For now she should find out more about this... vampiric life form and the… Sanctuary seemed to be the best way.

“Are you comfortable to be on your own for roughly an hour?”

Again Myka simply nodded as she let herself sink into a huge bordeaux sofa.

“Alright then, there is a bathroom on the left, you can freshen up there and you are welcome to peruse the books.”

And just like that Magnus was gone. Myka got up slowly and made her way to the bathroom. As it wasn't her body, she should check that there weren't too many bruises on her waist and her face didn't look too beaten. She felt slightly guilty for taking a stranger's body, but then it was for the greater good, wasn't it?

If she had to give up control of her body for 22 hours and 19 minutes to save even one life, she would immediately do it. Besides, without her knowledge, the woman had most likely been dead, captured by the first vampire.

She was happy to find a mirror and notice the straight dark hair that was tied into a loose bun. The bun had probably looked more prim before the attack, but Myka had no idea how to fasten the myriad of clips, so she simply washed her face and hands for now, relieved there weren't any bruises visibly as of yet, except an indentation in her right palm, where her hand had collided with her attacker's wrist.

On her way back to the large sofa, she tried to arrange the chaos inside of her head.

Maybe, just maybe, she was in the right world, at the right time. Maybe there were creatures like fairies and vampires in the world.

She was used to inexplicable artifacts, it wasn't that far a stretch.

Was it?

Sighing she moved farther into the cushions.

If she was indeed in the right place, the next thing she had to do was interview Magnus on the vampires.

This was going to give her a headache.

She was very grateful when a timid girl entered the room and offered to bring some tea and crackers. Eating helped to calm her down a bit, even if the girl disappeared as soon as she had delivered the tray, efficiently avoiding any questions Myka might have.

With a slightly calmer stomach, Myka got up to investigate. There were thousands of books surrounding her, some should be able to provide answers.

At first though she only found ordinary books. Well, some were really old, but definitely known to her. Books by Joseph Priestley, Michael Faraday, Ampère and other scientist covered one section, Immanuel Kant, Humboldt and various others were on the other side.

She was amused to find a first edition of Alice in Wonderland. It was even signed by ‘L. Carroll’.

Finally she located some old-fashioned medical books. The first one was about humans and it seemed all century-appropriate, but then Notebooks with simple bindings attracted her attention. She pulled them out one by one, regarding the titles. They covered a great deal of physical and chemical theories that weren't even public knowledge yet. There was a lot by Nikola-no-last-name. Myka told her brain not to jump to conclusions. She couldn't possibly be holding original, unpublished thoughts of Nikola Tesla.

After that she found the weirdness she was really looking for. Books by Gregory Magnus displayed pictures of countless strange creatures, categorizing them in species, ways to behave in their company, treat common diseases, some deriving from the industrialization. Some of them seemed like folklore, like wolves and mermaids, but others were completely new to her.

If she hadn't just seen Liam with her own eyes, she would have surmised that whoever had written those books had been under the influence of some very interesting drugs.

She was so immersed in her discoveries that she completely neglected everything around her. It wasn't until a familiar voice spoke up that she even noticed that someone had entered the room.

“Lie down what you are holding and turn around very slowly.”

Helena?

Myka took a deep breath to calm herself and remembered that Marie Lapointe had never met Helena in her life.

So she did as told. Helena stood across the room, a trembling gun trained on her with one hand, while her other held a struggling baby securely in her arm.


	2. Chapter 2

Myka bit her cheek, careful not to react in any way.

She’d never seen Helena like this before. Obviously she’d never seen her this young, but also never this disheveled. Her dark hair was bound in an even messier bun than Myka's. She was wearing men's trousers, a dark vest buttoned up the wrong way over a pale blouse and a pair of brown suspenders, one of them unconnected.

The fire in her eyes almost shattered the ineptitude the clothes displayed and the innocence Christina was providing. If it weren't for the fact that the hand holding the weapon was trembling, Helena might even look terrifying.

Scratch that, the fact that it did tremble coupled with Helena's hatred of guns made it terrifying. Myka really didn't want to be shot by accident. Or by a tremor in the earth, making a gun go off.

Wrong fear.

Myka pushed that thought away as far as it would go and raised her hands. She gave a small smile, hoping to placate Helena. 

“Is that how you treat guests here?”

Helena was not charmed, she moved her arm to shift Christina, but never took her eyes off of Myka. The gun was now pointing to Myka’s right.

“If you're going to shoot me with that, you should swerve a great deal to your right. Otherwise you'll just end up killing books.”

Myka thought the cheeky comment might diffuse the tension, but Helena quickly did as she was told.

“Don't believe that I can't aim properly.”

“Oh, I am certain that you can. You just look like you'd rather let that thing fall to the ground.”

Helena tilted her head in consideration. Myka was afraid she’d consider shooting her just to prove her wrong, so she backtracked.

“Helen Magnus told me to wait for her here. I thought it was alright to have a look.”

Slowly Helena's determination wavered and she lowered the gun.

“You were looking at a shelf that isn't for public knowledge.”

Myka dropped her hands, left out a breath she hadn’t realised she was holding and decided to test what exactly Helena knew.

“I didn't know that. One doesn't learn about vampires and werewolves everyday.”

“You met the vampire that's traversing the streets?”

“Well, it was more him meeting me than the other way around.”

Helena narrowed her eyes, but most of the tension left her body.

“You were attacked and Helena brought you in.”

When Myka simply nodded Helena frowned.

“Well, where is she then?”

Before Myka could answer Christina made an unhappy whimper. She struggled in Helena’s arms and her face seemed unusually red. Coupled with the dark circles under Helena's eyes the two of them looked pretty terrible.

“She shouldn't be too long now. I was to wait for about an hour.”

Helena gave her a last appraising look before she lowered herself on the sofa, settling Christina on her chest. She placed the gun on the other side, carefully eying Myka, who sat down across from her, giving her space.

“What are you doing here? In the middle of the night with your infant daughter?”

Helena threw her a dirty look without commenting. Christina chose this instant to start screaming. Loudly. At once Helena started rocking and shushing her.

Just then Dr. Magnus appeared.

“HG! What are you doing here?”

Her tone implied that she was surprised and almost angry at seeing Helena. Which Helena conveniently overheard.

“It's Christina, Magnus. I believe she is sick. She hasn't stopped crying, she is feverish and she doesn't drink properly.”

Magnus held her hands out for the infant, immediately laying her hand on her forehead, talking to the baby in a hushed tone. She concentrated entirely on Christina’s reactions as she moved her hands in front of her eyes, before she held her high up and grinned.

“You have kept your mommy up a lot, haven't you, Christina?”

Magnus held her close to her chest again, tickling the girl’s foot.

“You have been very improper!”

“Magnus!”

Helena was obviously not pleased by the easy way Magnus was handling her daughter, but Magnus laughed as Christina gurgled happily.

“See, she is happy. There's nothing wrong with her.”

“She hasn't stopped crying, Helen.”

“Maybe she got sick and tired of only seeing her mommy's dull face day in and day out.”

“Helen!”

Myka had to smile at Helena's outrage, but Christina chose that moment to start crying again. She struggled against Magnus's hold, kicking out angrily.

She reminded Myka of her niece.

“How old is she now?”

“Almost seven months.”

“Can I?”

Myka held her hands out, certain her sudden idea was correct. Christina was at the right age and it was typical for parents who had just established a routine to forget about it. At least that’s what Tracy read in her parenting book. Helena gave her another calculating look, but nodded at Magnus.

She had only thought about taking a look into her mouth to confirm her suspicions and put Helena at ease, but as Myka felt the weight of the tiny human being in her arms she was in awe. Swallowing the lump in her throat down, Myka forced herself to smile and be calm and ignore the question in her thoughts. She explained in a low, soothing voice what she was about to do, while she arranged the girl in her arms. Myka couldn't have been more surprised when Christina actually stopped wailing and looked at her curiously. But she supposed that her novelty was what kept Christina interested.

She very cautiously put her forefinger on Christina's lips and after giving her mouth a very close look, she smiled at Helena.

“There's nothing wrong with her.”

Of course Christina started whimpering again. Myka made a face and without really thinking about it, she slipped the tip of her pinky finger into Christina's mouth, giving her something to chew on. It had worked the weekend she had spent with her niece.

Helena had given her a pointed look at Christina's discomfort, but now she was glaring at her.

“Would you care to explain what you are doing?”

Myka smiled at the baby in her arms. It was a good feeling, to calm her, to give Christina something that comforted her. She felt a surge of fondness in her chest and tried to ignore the pain that was coming with it as she explained what was going on.

“Well, see, she's teething. Her teeth are trying to break through and from what I remember about my wisdom teeth, it hurts like hell. You can already see the tips of her front teeth.”

Christina gurgled content as she experienced relief from the pressure of Myka's finger and started chewing on it. Seeing her happiness Myka felt the corners of her mouth twitch. At the same time her eyes started burning. She tried tried to blink away the tears inconspicuously. Myka forced herself to look up at Helena instead. It wasn't any easier to smile at her but somehow Myka managed.

“Now she's happily chewing on my finger. It helps with the pressure coming from the gums.”

“That sounds surprisingly reasonable.”

It was Magnus who reacted first. Shortly Myka wondered whether they already knew about teething in the 19th century, but then she brushed it off. Surely mothers had made this connection since they had started to observe their children.

“Yes, I remember that my niece didn't stop crying for days, unless she could chew on something. It can become somewhat dangerous once the first teeth are actually out.”

Myka stopped herself, before she told them about a scar that wasn't on Marie's skin and looked down to Christina again. She was very successfully slobbering all over her hand, only opening her mouth fully now to let out a tiny, adorable yawn.

“It's very late for her to be up, isn't it?”

She said and braced herself for the moment she had to let her go again, but Helena only nodded as she let herself fall into the sofa, accompanying her daughter's yawn with one of her own.

“She seems very comfortable in your arms. I am inclined to let her fall asleep there.”

While Myka stared Magnus asked:

“Don't you want to know why Marie is here in the first place?”

“Attacked by this vampiric creature that’s been traipsing around,” Helena mumbled without any sign of disquietude while she slowly shut her eyes. “I don't care, Christina is calm.”

“Am I correct to assume that you haven't slept in days?”

“Hmhm.”

Myka grinned, knowing that this mumble was all Magnus was going to get from Helena. She was already in a dream-like state. Sometimes Helena hadn't stopped working when they had left the Warehouse and Myka had found her on the sofa in the living room, sketchpad on her knees, eyes closed. Helena could react to questions, but she was so close to sleep that her answers were usually less than coherent.

“Alright then, I have to examine our findings from this evening. I'll leave you two to it.”

Just as Magnus turned to leave, Myka pulled herself together. She needed to know more. She couldn't just spend what little time she had cuddling with Christina, watching Helena sleep, and ignoring the screaming in her head that wanted to take Christina and put her somewhere safe. Not to mention what every moment of this did to her, she needed to finish her mission.

“Wait, I need to go with you.”

“You  _ need  _ to go with me?”

Of course Magnus would pick up on the wording. Myka decided to play stupid.

“I want to find out more about these creatures. Is 'need' the wrong British translation?”

“Oh, you're French. I hadn't made the connection to your name before.”

Myka gave a sheepish smile and hoped that a language barrier was excuse enough for all the mistakes she was bound to make. Probably already had made.

“Yes, sometimes I still struggle.”

“Alright then, give Christina to her mother and we can go.”

With one look at Helena, Myka highly doubted that Helena was able to do more than sleep.

“Or I could take her with me, if it is safe? Helena?”

But Helena just gave a dismissive wave.

“You know your punishment if anything happens to her.”

Myka froze, but Magnus just shrugged her shoulders, grinning.

“If I remember correctly, Christina was forever forbidden from entering the Sanctuary at birth.”

“Right.”

Helena mumbled, and even though she tried to hold on to her composure, Myka had to grin.

On their way out of the room, Magnus turned slightly towards the dreaming woman again.

“You are aware that there are perfectly accommodating guest rooms upstairs, are you not?”

* * *

  
  


As it turned out, watching Magnus work was pretty interesting. On account of Christina Myka wasn't allowed to enter the exam room, but the tall glass window gave her enough of a view. Aside from deep-red eyes and sharp teeth, the vampire seemed human. He did have a pulse, though it was marginally slower than in an average human being.

The other difference presented itself, when he woke up.

Without Thomas at her side, Magnus might not have been able to constrain him. He was a lot stronger than normal people.

Unfortunately, the vampire refused to talk and they had to knock him out again.

Even while she was busy examining blood cultures, Magnus kept patiently answering all of Myka's questions. She seemed to think it was a viral transfiguration and Myka had no idea how to bring up an artifact, she wasn't even sure existed.

“Could they have longer life spans than average?”

“Of course, it is entirely possible. From what we know about the original vampires, they never died unless murdered.”

“Original vampires?”

If it weren't a the baby, Myka might have dropped whatever she was holding.

“Yes. Ancient history suggests that the vampires once ruled the world. But you don't have to worry, they are practically extinct by now.”

“Practically?”

“There is proof that some of them mixed with humans, so basic commonalities might still be found. However I presume that it would be very rare.”

“Okay.”

Vampires. Ancient vampires.

The worst thing was that Myka didn't even have an excuse anymore. She had met Helena, she was holding Christina. This wasn't some strange parallel world, it was the real deal.

“So, how come you don't think that he is a real vampire?”

“For once? He's a bit weak. If he were a real vampire, Thomas wouldn't have stood a chance against him. Also, their fingernails look different. And the eyes are black instead of this strange red. It's very curious. The color red...”

Conversing with Magnus for a certain amount of time had taught Myka not to call any creatures monsters but abnormals, and not to disturb her thought process. Magnus also liked to talk during the examination, lecturing whoever was willing to listen.

None of that brought Myka any closer to success. She needed to find that artifact. Preferably fast, so she could figure out a way to hide it.

She doubted she could just wish for an orchard that would be undisturbed for 130 years. Or something that would release it a week before her time? Because it had been dormant. But that was a problem she was going to solve when it would arrive.

“Interesting.”

“What is?”

Magnus held up the man's wrist, indicating an irregular imprint.

“The concentration of the virus in the blood suggests an origin point in this arm.”

Myka leaned forward. The mark on the wrist suggested that it was a broad bracelet with a big fastener. Finally a familiar excitement coursed through her.

She remembered that the man who had first assaulted her had been wearing a bracelet. She had hurt her own palm when she had broken his wrist.

That could be it!

“Artifact!”

She whispered.

“Could we somehow find the other guy?”

Magus threw her a probing look.

“We could try to calm him, before we interrogate him again.”

“Would sedation work?”

“He is sedated.”

Magnus pointed out, but moved to the microscope, examining blood cultures.

“I will get it out of him,” Thomas promised and the threat in his voice suddenly felt incredibly real. Christina started to struggle again and Myka rocked her carefully.

“If you find out where he is, can I come?”

Magnus looked at her again. She felt like she was the object under the microscope being analyzed, but after a moment Magnus only nodded and turned away.

“If you tell me what this is all about when it's over, you can come.”

Myka nodded, certain that Magnus was telling the truth.

“Then I'll wait with Christina in the library.”

Without looking up again Magnus informed her that Helena might be on the second floor in the bedroom at the end of the left corridor.

* * *

  
  


As it turned out, Helena had indeed left the library. Myka took a deep breath and kept talking to Christina as she climbed the stairs. While the little girl was still happily chewing at her fingers, there was still some pain and the obvious need for distraction.

Per Magnus's instructions she found Helena sprawled on a bed at the last room of the left corridor. Helena had laid her vest and suspenders on a chair next to the bed. One hand was positioned under her cheek, the other one laid protectively over her belly, her knees slightly bent. Her bun had finally given up all pretense of holding her hair together, leaving it to form a tangled mess on the pillow next to a most serene expression on her face. Myka found herself smiling at the sight.

She was aware that this wasn't the Helena she knew. This was before... everything.

This Helena was less burdened, in some way even naive. She had no idea how to hold a gun, probably never even used one. Myka was pretty certain that this Helena didn't even know about the Warehouse yet.

There were other observations in the back of her head, thoughts she desperately tried to suppress. This wasn't the Helena she knew.

There was no way to be certain that her Helena didn't look as peaceful in sleep as this version, although Myka had a dark suspicion that she didn't.

Having a moment to herself, Myka pondered the suspicion that Helena had known she would travel to the past. But then, the time machine had been beyond repair and Helena couldn’t have known about Claudia’s stubbornness to built a new one. And Myka wouldn’t give away that she was from the future. She wouldn’t.

So Helena hadn’t known. She couldn’t have. 

Christina whined once more and it was enough to make Helena stir. Myka slowly moved to stand next to the bed.

“Hey.”

“Hello.”

Although she was blinking tiredly, Helena sat up and held out her arms for Christina. Myka obliged without hesitation. Part of her immediately missed the warm weight, but she was mostly glad to relieve herself of that responsibility.

She had to fight the urge to blurt out stupid ideas like Helena migrating to America with Christina, which would make a trip to Paris difficult.

“Did you look at the vampire with Aunt Helen, darling? Did Marie treat you right?”

“She was surprisingly calm as long as she was allowed to chew on my finger and I promise she didn't get anywhere near the vampire in question.”

“Excellent.”

Helena padded the place next to her.

“What did Magnus find out about him?”

Myka sat down slowly, conscious of Helena's closeness.

“Well, she seemed certain that he wasn't a real vampire. She is under the impression that they are nearly extinct.”

Helena snorted.

“Just because she found remnants of them.”

“What?”

But Helena brushed her off quickly.

“No matter. If it is not vampires doing all these things, what are they then?”

“I don't know. Magnus seems to think that they're nothing but human. There is something strange in the blood.”

“Hm.”

Helena carefully arranged Christina in her arms. With visible apprehension she offered her finger to her daughter, eyes widening in surprise when Christina began to chew. She gave Myka a small smile, before she continued her line of questioning.

“And what do you think?”

Distracted, Myka answered honestly.

“I think it's the bracelet.”

“A bracelet doing all this? That's ridiculous.”

“You'd be surprised,” Myka murmured. Helena shook her head, amused, before her expression changed and she looked at her in scrutiny.

“How did you know my name?”

“Hm?”

That couldn't be. Myka was certain that she had been careful not to address Helena by her name, hadn’t she?

“My name. You asked me directly if you could take Christina with you when you left with Magnus. I don't think she had addressed me at all.”

Right. Because Helena Wells was raising Christina without ever having been married. It must be a pretty huge scandal and might not even be public knowledge. Seeing that Helena was probably right and Magnus hadn't mentioned her name, Myka tried to shrug it off.

“We met before. Don't you remember? You were at a party with Charles. I don't remember exactly where. It might have been at the Dashwood's?”

She was taking names from Austen novels. Not a good sign.

“Really?”

Fortunately, Helena seemed sufficiently confused.

“Sure. You offered me a drink and tried to persuade me to walk out into the gardens, because you thought it to be quite a tiring affair, remember?”

“That does sound like me,” Helena conceded. She looked pensive when a voice at the door spoke up.

“It does sound exactly like you. You hate the Dashwood's affairs.”

“Magnus! You shouldn’t ambush a person like that!”

“Well, I'm here to collect Marie. We have found out where they have been staying. It's a warehouse close to the Thames.”

“Collect Marie? I'm coming with. She can stay here.”

Helena protested immediately, and Myka grinned at her in victory. Magnus had kept her promise and it didn't hurt to see Helena pouting. She was adorable.

While she was still smirking at Helena, Myka’s attention was diverted somewhere else. A dark figure was coming up behind Magnus, a gun shining in their hands.

“Gun!”

Without thinking she did the only thing she could do and whirled around so that she was completely facing the intruder, effectively positioning herself between him and Helena and Christina. Her ears were ringing with panic.

Magnus stayed calm, she just raised an eyebrow.

“Interesting.”

She turned to the hooded figure.

“Thank you Thomas.”

“What the hell?”

There were several expressions appropriate for French woman in the late 19th century. This was not one of them. Myka couldn't care less.

Without any remorse Magnus simply shrugged.

“I was not about to take you with me on the self-defending skills I witnessed in the alley. I needed to test your reactions. Honestly, I expected you to throw yourself on the ground.”

It had been a test. Wide-eyed Myka turned to Helena, who had narrowed her eyes at Magnus.

“Was that really necessary?”

“I certainly think so. Now, if you want to change, there are more appropriate clothes in the wardrobe. Helena never did know how to find the guest rooms. We will meet you downstairs in a bit.”

“Alright,” was all Myka managed to stammer.

Magnus and Thomas left immediately, while Myka stared at the empty threshold. She was still shocked.

“The wardrobe is to your left.”

Helena's voice snapped her out of her stupor.

“Right.”

In an instant she moved to the left and opened the door, relieved to find trousers, blouses and jackets, cut to fit a woman instead of the dress she was still wearing.

“It's Magnus’s spare wardrobe, the clothes might be a bit too big for you.”

Suddenly Helena was standing right behind her. Myka turned around, meeting an amused expression. Behind Helena Christina was positioned in between a fort of pillows. Helena moved around her and took out a pair of beige trousers and a brown blouse. Myka froze, surrounded by a scent that was particularly Helena.

“That might fit.”

Helena was way too close for comfort. And a teasing twinkle in her eyes suggested that she knew exactly what reaction she was provoking. Myka took a shallow breath and swallowed. She accepted the clothes and stepped back.

“Right. Thank you.”

She broke their eye contact in favor of looking for a bathroom.

“There is a screen on the right, but you'll need help with that dress. Shall I call Sophie?”

“No, it is okay. I will manage on my own.”

There was no way she'd need help. She was a grown woman, she could dress herself.

“If you insist...”

“I do!”

With that Myka strutted across the room and hid herself behind the screen. As soon as she examined herself in the floor length mirror she knew she had to cave in. The dress was fastened on her back in a tight corset. There was no way she'd be able to undress by herself.

The predictable clearing of a throat just behind the screen irritated her, but she swallowed her anger.

“Come around.”

Silently Helena came in to stand behind her, efficiently working on the laces. Myka put a hand to the fabric over her breasts, making sure it wouldn't fall down.   
“One could think you have never been dressed like that.”

Myka didn't care to answer that observation. She was busy stoically staring at the ground in front of her, ignoring that Helena's fingers worked on her back, undressing her. She felt her face flushing, knew that her heated skin might be visible behind her ears and desperately ignored that her breaths became shallow, out of her control until Helena stopped just short of her backside.

One moment neither of them moved, Myka staring down and Helena behind her, unmoving.

Then she felt a strand of hair being moved at her left ear.

“Your blushing is endearing.”

It was barely over a whisper. Helena's lips were so close to her auricle, she wasn't sure whether her lips were actually brushing her skin or whether it was just her breath. Myka felt a shiver running down her spine.

A moment later there was a rustling noise behind her and she was alone.

It took Myka longer than a minute to compose herself. Trying to make up for the time she spent in her stupor, she rushed herself out of the dress and into the trousers. She slipped into the blouse and put her shoes on, happy that they were sensible flats. They would do.

Starting to button the blouse from the neck over a thin see-through shirt, she gave herself an appraising look in the mirror and decided that two could play that game. Helena would never know who she really was, she had been clearly flirting with Marie and well, Myka couldn’t resist.

Having hardly closed half of the buttons, she passed the screen and traversed the room, closing the last buttons on the way to the door.

She would not allow Helena to be cheeky without delivering some payback. Enjoying the soft gasp she farewell, meeting Helena’s eyes with a small smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This worked quicker than I thought! My favorite part is the last chapter, I hope to get to it soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Two hours later Myka was still following Magnus and Thomas through London. 'Knowing' where they lived turned out to be 'knowing where they had once passed out'. By now Myka's feet were hurting and even her brain was in some kind of frozen stupor.

She could do little more than to silently follow her two companions, noticing very little of the dark, unfamiliar streets of London in the process. 

She was sure she would still react to an attack, but it might just be completely on autopilot without having any capability to revisit the details afterward.

Since this wasn't a Secret-Service-mission she forced herself to keep calm about that. The freezing fog seeped through her clothes until she was frozen solid. It was a wonder that her muscles were still working.

As predicted she reacted entirely on instinct when three dark figures emerged from an alleyway, using the stun gun Magnus had equipped her with to put the first one down while retreating backwards. Immediately the second one advanced on her, more quickly than her reflexes could counter. Fortunately, Magnus and Thomas had thrown themselves equally into the fight. Before Myka could lift her hand to protect herself, Magnus had downed the vampire with a strong kick to his side. Using his distraction Myka stunned him. They turned to Thomas who was standing over the third guy, throwing them a sly grin. When they checked for a pulse, Myka discovered the suspected bracelet. Touching it with a handkerchief she quickly put it inside her jacket's pocket, feeling victorious.

Now she only needed a plan to hide it.

As soon as everyone’s unconsciousness was determined, Thomas ran to procure a carriage. They would transport the three men to the Sanctuary and interrogate them there. Myka checked and noted that all of them had marks from the bracelet on at least one wrist.

When they returned in the early hours of the morning, worn out and sweaty, the only thing Myka wanted was sleep and food. Preferably, a lot of both.

She was more tired than normal, possibly due to the unusual impact of adrenalin on this body. She was drained.

Still she followed them to the exam rooms. Part of her was deliberating which room she would be able to sleep in, while another part was contemplating her options to hide the bracelet. Was there a museum in London that was open now and still open in her time? Would she be able to hide a bracelet in there without it being discovered? What about banks?

She was pretty certain she remembered that the Bank of England has existed since the late 17th century. Marie Lapointe might have an account. If women were allowed to have an account completely on their own?

There was doubt.

So Myka decided to quiet her brain by asking for a bed and deciding to sleep on it.

However, when Magnus finally turned to her, her eyes were anything but friendly. She took Myka by her wrist to the corridor that lead back to the entrance hall and pushed her against the wall. There was a knife at her throat and Marie was too weak to counter this.

“Now, are you ready to tell me, who you are and what you are doing here?”

“Who I am?”

Myka was surprised to notice how high her voice sounded. The confidence she needed was distinctly evading her.

“I have no idea who or what you are, but you are certainly not Marie Lapointe. I met her once and she is nothing but the meek obedient wife of a wealthy Lord. Both of which you are certainly not. Therefore I ask you to release her body.”

“What I am?”

“Would you like suggestions? I don't know how you inhabit her body. It might be a direct control, meaning you are a parasite-creature occupying her brain or you might have just exchanged her conscience. I'm curious to either, but I must ask you to release her.”

“Neither.”

Myka swallowed and met Magnus’s stern look head-on.

“I promise to leave in a couple of hours.”

“You promise?”

Magnus sounded dark and probing.

“Well, it's a process. I was never intended to stay longer than 22 hours and 19 minutes.”

“That's an exact number.”

Myka shrugged.

“Well, I have no idea why it is that long, but it seems that we can't change or explain that number. Plus I'm no parasite.”

“Alright.”

The knife was suddenly gone and Magnus released her. Myka kept leaning against the wall, having the distinct and unpleasant feeling that it was all that was keeping her upright.

“Alright?”

“You threw yourself in front of Helena and Christina. Don't deny knowing them.”

Averting her eyes was an option Myka was willing to take as a way out. Neither confirming nor denying seemed enough confirmation for Magnus though and she nodded.

“Alright, so do you want to tell me what you are planning to do with the bracelet? Leaving it in Marie's possession does not sound recommendable.”

“What bracelet?”

“No, don’t play coy now. I saw that you took it and I’m certain it is somehow the cause of this aberrant vampirism. Where are you planning to place it?”

Too tired to argue, Myka resigned.

“I was thinking about a bank?”

“That's... not recommendable either.”

Sighing deeply, Myka nodded.

“I might be forced to agree.”

“Well then the only question remains is whether you trust me.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“The Sanctuary is built to remain for centuries. I have no idea which time you are coming from, but it might be the safest way to preserve something.”

“Can I..?”

Myka swallowed.

“Can I think about it?”

And just like that a lot of the tension dispersed and Magnus took a step back.

“Certainly. The room next to Helena's is empty. You will find all you need to freshen up. We can meet again for breakfast.”

Only when she was undressing herself, Myka noticed that Magnus had not only figured out the part about her inhabiting Marie’s body but also the time travel.

She put it down as a worry for tomorrow.

* * *

The next meeting turned out to be sometime between breakfast and lunch. The atmosphere at the table was, to put it bluntly, awkward. Helena seemed a lot more alert and kept scrutinizing Myka out of the corner of her eyes. She was clearly a step away from openly doubting that they had met before. Christina had been picked up by her nursemaid before Myka had had any chance for a goodbye.

It did hurt, but she wasn't sure if seeing her again would have hurt more. She wouldn’t tell them about Paris. She still believed that making Magnus and/or Helena promise to prevent Christina from ever entering France or any other equivalent would only add to the guilt they must have felt after her death anyway. Helena and her time machine had taught her that there was no way to change the past.

She had to accept that.

Even while she was struggling to keep her countenance, she made small talk with Helena and Magnus.

Magnus was surprisingly accommodating, smoothing over Myka's most glaring faux pas with jokes. It worked until Helena stood up and asked Myka to accompany her outside. Surprised, Myka found herself nodding before she could warn herself not to. Although she still had half a day ahead of herself, she couldn’t help feeling torn.

Walking Helena to the entrance hall was exhilarating and sad at the same time. Myka made sure to notice every little detail of her, taking it all in. She stopped a wistful smile as it emerged and turned it into a real one.

Helena, of course, was delighted. She kept talking about their next meeting, thanking her for helping with Christina and promising to return the favor when they met again. Myka kept hoping that Marie was as meek as Magnus had described and that Helena would lose all interest in her when she next saw her.

That it had been a particular late breakfast didn't prevent Helena from hovering at the door. It was familiar how easy their conversation flowed but a little bit disturbing to notice all the differences. Seeing Helena being so at ease with herself only cemented the difference.

Myka took Helena's hand in her own and squeezed it reassuringly, hoping to convey at least some of her emotions. She was certain her smile was starting to look rather forced.

* * *

Back with Magnus she made an airtight argument. Magnus had to go look for Caturanga and dictate him the date of Myka's visit, including her false name and her real initials. Myka trusted her to find him, knowing the message had reached him somehow in her time.

She couldn’t leave the artifact in the Warehouse as she knew it was what they were searching for in her time. And she didn’t want to think of anything being stolen from the Warehouse.

So she broke her own rules and trusted Magnus with the artifact. Magnus promised to keep it in a time-sensitive release-mechanism so that some future agent could deliver it.

It was hard, detecting that Magnus expected it to be so close that she could bring it herself. Still, the Sanctuary seemed like a good enough option.

Magnus took her to a room where a couple of automatic safes were installed.

“What exactly did you mean by time-sensitive?”

Myka asked, reminding herself that technology as she knew it didn't exist yet, plus she wasn’t sure if even banks had security boxes that only opened at a specific date. Claudia could probably program something like it in no time, but then that was Claudia. Yet, even with today's technology, it was difficult to think of something that lasted over a century.

“It's a clockwork, see?”

There was indeed a watch attached to the safe, counting not only minutes and hours, but the days and years as well.

“We set a certain date and it will open.”

“How long before it expires?”

“Well, Nikola said it would last two centuries, Helena would only allow for one and a half century, but he was very proud nonetheless.”

Myka nodded, ignoring that Helena had worked with Nikola Tesla. She laid the bracelet on the table next to her, turned towards the dial, careful to conceal the view with her body, and started clicking through the year numbers. After fifty or so taps Magnus cleared her throat.

“That sounds like an awful lot of time.”

“You'd better not be counting.”

“I am not, but I do hope you're not testing the entire span of one and a half centuries.”

“I promise, I won't.”

That seemed to put Magnus at ease, though she must have at least had a general idea of the quantity of years.

“Ehm, Marie?”

“Yes?”

Myka turned around to see that Magnus looking at the bracelet.

“Are you aware that this might have a companion piece?”

“What?”

Myka moved closer to her, waiting for an explanation.

“The symbols in here suggest that it is only one part of a set. This one is supposed to be worn on the left wrist, there might be one for the right still out there.”

Which explains how she can lock this one up, while the other one will emerge in her time.

“Good. Then I'll know what to look for.”

“Are you sure?”

As Magnus seemed unconvinced, Myka lifted an eyebrow.

“Either it is part of a set or your Sanctuary will lose it in my time.”

“If those are the only options, I'm sure there is another bracelet.”

Myka was inclined to believe that, regarding the symbols on the bracelet.

“And I’ll find the other one, too. Now that I know what I am looking for.”

With that Myka turned back to the dial. To avoid a long time of waiting she set the date to the day after her return. From experience she knew that time travel was hell on the body and she gave herself a day to recuperate. She put the bracelet in and was in the process of closing the lid when something else occurred to her.

“Would you give me a pen and paper? I still need to write down the address.”

“Marie, I am sure, we know how to find the Warehouse.”

Myka raised an eyebrow and Magnus shrugged as she handed over a piece of paper.

"Sometimes the Warehouse and I work together. If I'd known that's where you're from I would have taken you to Caturanga sooner.”

Nodding Myka put the address of the Warehouse in front of the envelope, enclosing permission to enter the Warehouse to the carrier of the document on the inside.

Just in case.

When she checked the clock, she noticed that she still had three hours left.

She spent a couple minutes, quizzing Magnus about all the strange creatures that shared her world, prepared to learn as much as possible before her return, until Magnus fixed her with a stern gaze.

“Would it be alright to assume that your mission is finished?”

Taken aback by her abrasive tone, Myka just nodded.

“So, you have nothing left to do here?”

“No, I don’t.”

“My coachman is at your disposal. If you wanted to visit any of my friends, he would know the way. And while you should feel free to stay here and let me lecture you on abnormals, I am not forcing you.”

Magnus couldn't have been any more obvious, but Myka felt reluctant to agree. She couldn’t just…

“I’m almost certain that you are aware of Helena’s love for surprises.”

It was the last nudge she needed. There were a dozen reasons for staying, mainly the fact that Magnus already knew too much about her knowing Helena, but on the other side was Helena herself. Who looked at her like with interest instead of fleeing from her. It was only for three hours.

And Myka was just enough of a masochist to go, take the time she could have with this Helena, while her Helena was unreachable.

So she gave Magnus a thankful smile, said her goodbye and was on her way.

* * *

It seemed to take an eternity until the carriage stopped in front of Helena's house. It might be a hundred and twenty years in the future, but she had been here before. Having always associated the house with Helena, Myka was slightly surprised when a tall man opened the door.

“Can I help you?”

Judging by pictures it was very likely that this was Charles Wells.

“Yes! I'm sorry to disturb you, but I am calling for Ms Wells?”

Excitement was welling up inside her. This was a stupid idea, but she just had to try and see her one more time.

“You know Helena?”

He examined her with glaring disinterest.

“Come in then.”

As soon as she was inside he turned and strutted away from her, carelessly shouting up the stairs.

“Helena, if you invite an acquaintance over you might give some warning! And where's Theresa? That girl's too lazy to get dressed in the morning! I had to answer the door myself!”

With that he disappeared behind a door, shutting it noisily. Myka winced, hoping that it didn't upset Christina. She heard someone walking upstairs, followed by quick footsteps on the stairs.

Then, when it was really too late, she contemplated how embarrassing it would be if Helena didn't want to see her. Maybe she would think she was crazy. Maybe...

“Marie!”

An excited greeting accompanied by a radiant smile put all those worries aside.

“Hello.”

“Well, how nice to see you so soon.”

Helena examined her with a flirtatious smirk.

“What brought you here?”

That was a very good question. The part of her that would have worked on an excuse had been to busy telling her not to do this.

Feeling the heat creep up from her neck, Myka shrugged.

“Magnus offered me to take her carriage, and I don't have to be home for another two hours. I thought you might like to go for a walk?”

All in all she didn't sound half as breathless as she felt. Instead she seemed downright confident. Helena's eyes twinkled in amusement. She threw one glance at Charles's closed door, collected a coat, put on some shoes and knocked on the kitchen door, ordering the nursemaid to tend to Christina. In an instant she was standing next to Myka, offering up her arm.

“A walk, you say?”

Myka hesitated a second.

“Are you certain that I don't disrupt your day any more than I already have?”

“Darling, I do love impulsive ideas. It demonstrates personal freedom.”

Grinning, Myka took that as a compliment. Usually impulsive was the last way to describe herself, but if necessity helped her to make a good impression on Helena, she'd take it.

“Also due to you I feel perfectly rested. I haven't slept that well in days. Charles kept telling me that I should leave Christina with the nursemaid, but I just couldn't.”

It sounded like she partially expected a rebuke.

“I think it's admirable how dedicated you are to her.”

Every other thing she could add, would just sound bittersweet, so Myka simply smiled at Helena before she looked at the street, taking a shuddering breath, shushing her thoughts.

“Thank you. Not many people think that way.”

“Are you planning to let what other people think determine your life?”

“Certainly not!”

“I didn't think so.”

Myka grinned but regarding Helena's pensive gaze, she had to wonder whether she went too far.

“Why do you seem to know me so well? I can't even recall meeting you before.”

“That might be due to the wine.”

Helena shook her head, smiling.

“I do feel like I should know you, though.”

Myka grinned, memorizing that remark to ponder it later.

“That’s very amiable.”

“What I'd like to know most is how you persuaded Magnus to take you with them.”

Helena’s frown was almost adorable.

“I knew how to protect myself. I think it surprised her.”

Having her complete and utter attention almost took Myka’s breath away. So she looked at that street they were crossing, pretended to look at the houses.

“How did that turn out to be?”

Of course, Helena would want to know.

“I don't know, I was always interested in fencing and the like.”

“You are very evasive.”

“Why don't you show me around this part of London? I'm interested in how you see it.”

Helena stopped walking, disentangled her arm from Myka and fixed her with a stern gaze. Myka met her eyes steady, although she was unsure what was about to come. She was certain that Helena had just come to some conclusion. The only problem was that she might not like the result.

“This is not the beginning of a mutual friendship. This evening is all we have with each other. Am I correct?”

Myka just stared at her. Helena wasn't smiling at her, she seemed disappointed. At the same time there was a strange acceptance in Helena's eyes.

She was a free spirit, more likely to accept the inexplicable than most people.

“I can't...”

“You don't have to explain it. Just tell me whether I am right."

Myka rubbed her neck, but nodded.

“Yes.”

“Do we really know each other?”

“We do.”

“Good.”

She linked their arms again. They walked silently for a minute, before Helena started pointing out famous buildings and marveled about the ingenious invention of automobiles. It didn't take long until all awkwardness was gone again. Myka listened to Helena with delight. Soon she started quizzing her on some of her ideas, discovering that a few of her books were already living inside her head, if she hadn't already written them down.

Although Myka was careful not to display her knowledge, Helena was elated when she found out that Myka read. Suddenly Myka was immensely happy that she was a fan of the so-called classics. They spent a good part of their time comparing their views.

It was actually Helena who checked her pocket watch, observing that their two hours had passed in an instant.

“What?”

Myka looked at the time, not believing it. If her calculations were right, there was only something between five and fifteen minutes left.

“I have to leave.”

“Can I persuade you to grant me another half an hour?”

“No, I'm really sorry!”

She whirled around. There were enough cabs around. Marie Lapointe should be safe to return home.

Just.... Helena wasn't supposed to meet her, couldn't see the change of another awareness arriving. It wouldn't take her long to come up with probable scenarios, soon finding out what had happened.

She turned back to Helena, who looked slightly amused.

“You looked like a fox presented with a hunting party, dear.”

“I have to go.”

Myka noticed how weak her voice sounded, how sad. Helena took a step towards her.

“I know. Have a safe trip home, darling.”

“You, too.”

Helena saved her by calling a cab towards them.

“The lady will tell you where to go in a minute!”

With that she opened the door for Myka. Just before stepping into the carriage Myka hesitated, turning toward Helena who was holding the door for her. She swallowed. There was still so much she wanted to tell her, but as usual with Helena, words were failing her.

“Goodbye, Marie.”

Helena leaned in and placed a lingering kiss on her cheek.

“I do hope to see you again.”

She seemed actually sad, so Myka grinned softly, leaning into Helena's space, whispering her promise into her ear.

“Someday you will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cleaning up my computer is really working for me, this one was already edited, next one will probably be ready during the weekend.


	4. Chapter 4

It was a strange, but familiar feeling to regain her conscience to fatigue and hunger. There was a slight pressure on her hand, reassuring her that she wasn't alone.

The mixture of metallic scents and shampoo told her that it was Claudia.

“She's coming to.”

When she opened her eyes Myka forced herself to a shaky smile, searching to meet Claudia's gaze.

“I'm okay, Claudia.”

“Are you sure?”

“Everything worked like it was supposed to on my end.”

Finally, Claudia gave her a big grin.

“Everything was good here, too.”

“Good.”

A moment later Pete charged down the aisle.

“Food?”

Myka would never admit it, but the burger tasted like heaven. She ate and drank, while telling them about the bracelet that was about to be delivered on the next day.

The tense atmosphere was lost on her, until her basic needs were taken care of. When she returned from the bathroom she became all too aware of the tension in the air. Steve was loudly insisting that they needed to tell her something.

All she wanted was some peace and quiet. So she should really pretend that she didn't hear anything.

Unfortunately, it sounded urgent, which meant that she needed to know, being the one in charge.

When she turned around the corner the first thing she noticed was that the machine was still emitting a low hum. Claudia hadn't turned it off yet.

“Okay guys, what is going on?”

“Nothing, we should get back to the Inn and let you sleep.”

Predictably, it was Pete who tried to play it off.

“Thanks Pete, but you look like you ate my Twizzlers, so... What is going on? I do hope you managed to feed the ferret yesterday?”

“Of course!”

Claudia insisted and Myka decided to fix her gaze on her. Claudia would be the first one to break.

Sure enough it only took a long moment for Claudia to falter.

She lifted an old looking piece of paper.

“The message from Caturanga wasn't the only one in the envelope.”

Myka reached out. She had to make a demanding hand gesture before Claudia gave her the letter.

“ _Dear M,_

_I refuse to call you Marie since we know that it is not your name. However, I just found out that your real name does begin with M.( Margaret? Mary Elizabeth? Minerva? Molly? Magdalena? You will tell me!)_

_This time the Warehouse asks for your guidance. I hope you are still able to come and it won't take too much of a toll. It's the 24th of January, 1898._

_I have to admit that I would have wished for a better climate and an easier case._

_Still, I hope that I will get the chance to show you the beauty of London, covered in a blanket of white._

_In any circumstances I shall be looking forward to meeting you again._

_Sincerely,_

_Helena Wells”_

Myka had to read the whole letter twice. At first she was too stunned to show any reaction and then she tried to read between the lines, pondering what her colleagues had made out of this.

“You must have made quite an impression,” Claudia began careful.

"I guess so."

Myka couldn't exactly deny it, right? Not with that letter.

“She hadn't met many self-assured, independent women,” Myka said, defending them. Without a conscious decision her mouth moved into a smile.

“She didn't even know how to handle a gun.”

“Really?”

Pete's disbelief sounded honest, so Myka just shrugged.

“It was before she got to the Warehouse.”

When she shrugged the letter in her hand fluttered and drew her attention back to it. Myka frowned at them.

“What I don't get is why you are so upset about this. I mean, I don’t have to go now, do I? It's in the past, so technically I could go next weekend and it wouldn't make any difference.”

“Well, yes...” Claudia's tone suggested that there was a huge:

“ _But_ I have a problem with the charger.”

“The charger?”

“Yes...”

Claudia swallowed, before she found her confidence again.

“Well, as you know I modified the machine so that it doesn't completely massacre the entire Warehouse grid again. Which means, I’ve been slowly collecting electrical energy that the Warehouse puts out during artifact events when…”

“Claudia!”

Pete and Myka interrupted her at the same time. They didn’t need an actual novel length explanation.

Claudia took a breath.

“Right. The downside is that as soon as I turn it off, it will have to recharge for at least a month before we can use it again. It is perfectly capable to do another trip now, but I have no idea how to shut it down halfway. It's a glitch in the system. I didn't think I needed to work it out so quickly.”

“Meaning I either go now without Artie knowing or wait for another month until the bureaucracy of the Regents forbids us to do anything, ever.”

“Right.”

It seemed Myka had caught up with the main problem. She trusted Helena that going there would be safe, but the message was clearly written before she had even arrived.

“Could we at least have a quick glance at the records of January, 1898?”

“Yeah, that's another thing.”

Again it was Claudia who answered her first, with Pete elaborating.

“The records from that month are missing.”

“Missing?”

He nodded.

“Yes, it simply could be due to the move to America, you know, sometimes things go missing.”

“Or I someone had them destroyed, trying to prevent us from finding out what dangerous things I did.”

“Yeah, we considered that,” Steve amended, interrupted by Claudia “But it already happened then, right? So you definitely went. Plus, if it were too dangerous, you'd have gotten another message. Or the Warehouse wouldn’t have delivered this one.”

Myka wasn't certain if Claudia was trying to reassure herself or Myka. The scared expression on her face emphasized the bad feeling that suddenly resided in the depth of Myka's stomach. Even though that could be the burger. To go now without doing any more research wasn't just a bad idea, it was a terrible one. However, she felt a strong urge to leave sooner than later. Helena had asked for her help. 

“I think Claudia's right. I should just go. How bad can it be?”

She was met with rigid but supporting smiles.

“It's decided then?”

Claudia was seeking reassurance.

“It is.”

Myka confirmed. She finished her water and stood up. Part of her felt the need to hug every single one of them before she left. She refused to listen to that urge.

It would be an admission of fear. And that simply would not do.

So she only patted Pete's shoulder, gave Steve a calming smile and held on tight to Claudia before she sat down and allowed herself to be strapped to the strange machinery again.

* * *

  
This time the trip to the past made her violently nauseous. She remembered that she had no idea whose body she'd be inhabiting, but the first action it forced on her was anything but courteous. Barely succeeding to shift to the side she emptied her stomach, automatically holding dark long hair away from her face and desperately trying not to ruin the clothes she was wearing. As she tried to take deep, calming breaths, she realized that she felt confined around her waist and chest in something tight, that made it difficult to breathe deeply.

“Hey, you're fine. It's okay.”

A soothing voice murmured next to her ear. Simultaneously she felt a supporting hand on her hip and one stroking her back.

“Just take deep breaths.”

What actually calmed her down was the familiar scent in the air.

“Helena?”

The hand from her hip moved to help with her hair, caressing her cheek in the process.

“So it really did work.”

Exhaustion hit her and Myka allowed her body to slump against Helena.

For a moment Helena hesitated, one hand softly on her shoulder, not quite holding her. Even the little contact soothed Myka. Then she hugged her, giving Myka the comfort she instinctively sought.

“I had a feeling that we know each other a bit better.”

Despite the assurance in her words, Helena sounded conflicted.

Myka took a deep breath and regretted it immediately with Helena right next to her, her scent filling her lungs. She struggled to get a grip on herself and moved away from Helena.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...”

It was then that she looked around. They were standing in a very big, very crowded room. Objects were lying around, some were wearing little tags with descriptions on them.

“Are we...?”

“Yes, we are.”

Helena gave her a beaming smile, before she turned around and filled a glass of water. Myka took it grateful, remembering what had just happened.

“Oh god, this is mortifying.”

“It's fine, dear. I have a seven-year-old at home and spend enough time at the Sanctuary to be immune to the sight of blood and many-colored ooze, so a little vomit can't faze me.”

With that Helena moved to the door and called out for a maid. In an awkward silence they waited until the girl was done. Myka was happy, for the little breather helped her to regain her composure. Which was also when she noticed how she was a good part smaller than Helena, which was… weird. She looked down on herself and tugged at the midnight blue dress.

“So... who am I and why am I wearing this tight, tight thing?”

“You know, I would love to hear the answer to that first question myself. As to the body you're in, that's Sally Morgan's. She's working at the Warehouse as a help. She's not equipped to be an Agent because she abhors violence and though I don't condone it myself, it is needed from time to time in our line of work. We were thinking about who to choose for you and Sally offered."

Helena stopped, giving Myka a strange look.

"You have no idea how peculiar it is to see you holding her body like that."

Myka frowned.

"Like what?"

Helena shrugged, looking Myka up and down. "Confident? It's not one of Sally's finer qualities." When she met her eyes again, there was a familiar curiosity.

"Now you have to explain to me how that worked out?”

“Ehm, I can't.”

“You can't?”

Helena raised her eyes in disbelief.

“No, you see, I didn't build the time machine, so I really have no idea how it works. And even if I did...”

“You wouldn't tell me.”

Myka's lips were twitching while she was trying to stay serious. The only one who might be able to explain the workings of the machine was standing in front of her, having no idea that she was going to create it. Inevitably that lead to thoughts of Christina and Myka felt like a cold hand reached into her chest and took hold of her heart.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.”

Myka brushed it off, but Helena kept looking at her expectantly.

“The future, you know? It's complicated.”

“Because of all the brilliant things the world will have to offer?”

Myka gave a noncommittal grunt. Her thoughts were miles away from brilliant inventions.

“What? Are you meaning to tell me that you aren't living in a Utopia a couple of years in the future?”

The irony in Helena's voice didn't quite reach her.

“What is it?”

“There is always a downside, Helena,” Myka told her, ignoring how Helena smiled at hearing her own name.

“I know that, look where I work.”

Myka rolled her eyes at her, good-naturedly. She had to remind herself that she couldn't say anything. The past had already happened. Christina had died. Saying anything would be unfair to Helena and only serve to lessen Myka's guilt. Changing the past wasn't an option, so she had to stay quiet.

Helena didn't notice her internal struggle. She was still smiling, like she was about to find out a secret.

“Even with a possible downside, you have to admit how marvelous your own traveling is, don’t you?”

There was no way to answer that honestly. When she stayed silent, Helena tilted her head to the side.

“Would you at least tell me when we’ll meet?”

Myka snorted. Thinking quick she said.

“You will find that out someday, just not now. Now tell me all about why I'm here.”

“There is some peculiar trouble.”

“And?”

“Don't you just want to give yourself a minute to gather yourself?”

“I just did that.”

She knew that she sounded harsh, and tried to relieve that with a smile. It was hard, having Helena be so positive. So Myka gather herself together, promised herself to stay in the here and now and picked up their conversation.

“Besides, I don't have much time.”

“How much?”

The question came quick, Helena eager for knowledge and for once Myka indulged her.

“22 hours and 19 minutes.”

“That's specific!”

Helena laughed and checked her watch.

“It's 6pm. We're invited to dine at the Sanctuary. Magnus was the one who took the case to us. She's rather looking forward to meeting you.”

“Is that the reason I am wearing this binding costume?”

“Yes, Sally reassured me that it is the height of fashion.”

“Great.”

Grumbling, Myka took Helena's offered arm and allowed her to lead her to a waiting carriage.

On the way Helena eased the tension with light questions, interrogating Myka on her favorite choice of clothing, trying to trick her into revealing her real name and complimenting her on her dedication to the Warehouse. Myka found herself sharing, how the Warehouse's caretaker had suddenly shown up and practically forced her to work with them. She kept it general, talking about her colleagues and how they considered each other family, careful not to use any names. Helena smiled at her story.

“That does sound familiar. Caturanga always tells me that the Warehouse chooses the people it wants to work with.”

Myka had to agree to that.

“It’s also how we got the idea to call on your help,” Helena was wearing her special, secretive smile that just begged to be asked questions. Myka managed to resist for maybe a minute, then her curiosity won out.

“How so?”

Helena smiled at her question, clearly happy that she got her to ask.

“We were deliberating what to do, I was suggesting we needed help, maybe should bring the Sanctuary in. Since I’ve become an Agent their working relationship has greatly improved, but then the letter Caturanga stashed in one of his filings systems came tumbling down.”

“Which letter?”

Now Helena looked like the cat who got the cream.

“The one addressed to you, asking you to come for the first time. Since I smelled apples, we all agreed the Warehouse wanted us to ask you for help.”

Myka allowed herself a small smile and leaned back into the carriage.

“I smelled apples, too. When I got the letter, I mean.”

Something passed between them, that bypassed Myka being in the wrong body and Helena not knowing her, they shared a look of understanding something that only very few people could.

“So, what am I supposed to call you?”

Myka lauged.

“Since I’m not telling you my real name and Sally could be confusing, how about we just go with Marie?”

Helena nodded but made a disgruntled sound in the back of her throat.

“Meeting Marie again was not a nice experience, you’ve truly duped me there, darling.”

Myka grinned and shrugged.

“I’m sorry, there was little else I could do at the time.”

Helena sighed, making it sound like she was hugely offended but Myka simply laughed at the twinkle in her eye.

* * *

When they arrived at the Sanctuary a high voice greeted them, overjoyed.

“Mommy!”

In an instant Christina had thrown herself into Helena's arms.

“Sophie says I can't eat dinner with you, but I studied the whole day! I never complained and got the whole writing test right! Please!”

There was a lot of complaining and not much of understanding before Sophie came into the foyer and Helena told Christina to leave with her. Before she went, the little girl hugged Myka. Apparently she was familiar with Sally. It took all Myka had to let her go without showing any other emotion than a greeting smile.

She had tried to prepare herself this time, but it had been for nothing. Concentrating on her breathing she followed Helena to the dining room. There was no point in dwelling on Christina's fate, no matter how much she wished she could change it. She had to remind herself of that constantly, though.

Magnus came a couple of minutes after them. She looked tired, her clothes were rumpled, like she had been dressed in that suit for longer than a simple evening.

“Are you going to tell me what this is all about?”

“So it's true? It worked?”

“I wrote the letter, put in in the Warehouse and she arrived. It was amazing.”

“Brilliant.”

Despite herself Myka gave an amused snort at their beaming expressions.

“So, why am I here?”

She looked at Helena, but it was Magnus who answered.

“Well, we hate to admit it, but we are at our wit's end. There is a series of murders in London. It started two weeks ago and all leads turned out to be bogus. James was beside himself.”

“James?”

“Watson.”

Helena clarified.

“Of course.”

There was nothing in this crazy world that would surprise Myka anymore, so she just looked back at Magnus.

“Yes, well. The murders are without exception rather violent. We found out that they resemble a series of murders 36 years ago, but the culprit was never found.”

“When did it start now?”

“The first murder happened on the 12th January. The body was found in the early hours of the morning. We think it unlikely that a murderer stopped for 36 years.”

Myka wholeheartedly agreed.

“And there are strange reports...”

“Which is where the Warehouse comes in.”

“Right.”

Magnus nodded.

“Some witnesses claimed seeing a little girl about ten years old in a white nightgown fleeing from the scene of the crime. We didn't give it much attention until those reports accumulated.”

“A little girl is supposed to be doing this?”

“Allegedly some saw blood on her clothes, others reported that she was laughing rather maniacally.”

“A little girl?”

“It does sound unbelievable, however it seems to be true.”

Helena nodded.

“And there are similar accounts to the murders 36 years ago.”

“I don't remember reading about a killing spree in 1862?”

Myka expressed her wonder more for herself. There was a famous series of murders, but they happened in another decade altogether.

“But you know about one in 1898?”

Suddenly Magnus sounded even more tense, which Myka hadn't believed to be possible. So she simply tilted her head from one side to the other. She was aware that the numbers in her head didn't catch up, but a ten year difference was better than thirty-six.

“Well, no...”

Helena looked confused, but Magnus just nodded like she had expected as much.

“I assume you are referring to the Jack the Ripper? That was a decade ago, dear.”

“Well, yes. But maybe he changed his m.o.? He hasn't been caught, has he?”

Magnus's lips were looking whiter by the second. She seemed to be holding on to something pretty tightly. Now Helena looked rather uncomfortable, too.

“He has been caught, just not by the normal authorities. There is no need to discuss this.”

Magnus stood up abruptly and nodded at Myka. Apparently that line of thinking was over.

“Helena can fill you in and provide you with more comfortable clothes. I need to be certain that everything in the Sanctuary is as it should be.”

As she rushed off Myka felt a little guilty.

“Did I struck a nerve there?”

“Yes, but you couldn't have known. John is being held in a special cell downstairs. Nikola and I created it. So, he can't be the killer.”

“John as in John Druitt? He killed himself in 1888.”

“Watson thought this story was as good as any other.”

“Okay...”

As they went upstairs Helena told her a bit more about the child, alleged murderer.

“The murders occurred in a seemingly regular way. From a pattern Watson had discovered the next one was supposed to happen in the north of the City of London around midnight. We might get a glimpse of her or even catch her.”

While Myka accepted similar clothes like her last visit, she frowned. She turned around, accepting Helena's help this time without the fuss, knowing there was no way she'd get out of this even tighter dress and simply hoping that Helena would behave. It was more weird than last time because Helena knew the person this body belonged to.

“If you know so much, why did you ask for my help? I don't mean to sound impertinent, but time travel isn't all fun and games.”

“Is that true?”

Helena asked in a playful tone while she worked on her dress, her fingers stroking Myka's back through the fabric of her undershirt in a way that was anything but innocent. Myka took a sharp breath at the unexpected contact. So much for Helena behaving.

“I thought you rather enjoyed meeting me.”

Still confused Myka answered without thinking about what she was saying.

“Yes, and it is confusing as hell.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Myka shut her eyes in embarrassment. She felt a warmth creeping up from her neck. Helena's hands stopped.

“You have to tell me, how we know each other.”

“Helena, I can't.”

“Why not? In your past this time travel has already happened, so you wouldn't change anything.”

“Maybe you're right, but when I first met you, you didn’t seem to recognize me, so I have to think that I’ve never told you who I am when meeting like this.”

“What else wouldn’t you want to change?”

This was leading in a bad direction, so Myka altered it.

“Do you really want to test that theory? I for one don't want to return to a world, where I might be able to read 'The Island of Doctor Moroe' and 'The Invisible Man', but have to miss out on 'The War of the Worlds'.”

“Those are my brother's books.”

Myka who had just shrugged out of the dress and into the blouse turned around and fixed her eyes on Helena, lifting her eyes in a telling way, calling Helena out on her lie.

“How do you...?”

“Just accept that I know. Did you think I knew about the Warehouse but not where Charles gets his ideas from? Whose hand wrote the most quoted lines?”

Myka didn't really expect an answer, but the total lack of reaction threw her, so she tilted her head, waiting. Helena's eyes were traveling down her body, taking in the completely casual way Myka was standing in nothing but underwear and a slightly open blouse.

“Oh, sorry.”

Quickly Myka pulled on the trousers and concentrated on the blouse, trying to work the buttons, half of them still open.

“Don't apologize.”

Helena insisted as she moved into Myka's space to finish the fastening herself.

“You inhabit this stance of pure confidence, coupled with this look on your face that's unique to you, you know that? Just like Marie is not able to fight a wind gust, let alone a human being, she never displayed this myriad of emotions in one moment. Neither does Sally. And neither of them usually blushes so deeply, frowns that intensely or worries their lips in your way. I'm rather certain I will recognize you once we meet, so you might as well tell me your name.”

Before Myka could stutter an answer, Magnus appeared in the doorway.

“Are we ready? We need to pick up Nikola on the way. He insisted on coming.”

“Well, if he insisted, we must.”

Helena answered, seemingly undisturbed. Magnus just shrugged.

“I will meet you downstairs in five minutes.”

Taking both of their jackets and giving shoes to Myka, Helena simply looked at her for a moment.

“I asked for your help, because this is the third time we are following one of Watson’s suggestions. We haven’t found any suspect. We haven’t even seen the little girl yet.”

Myka nodded.

“Well, if I can help, I have no idea how.”

Helena gave her a tentative smile.

“I'm sure you'll do excellent work.”

They made their way downstairs again, when Helena stopped suddenly.

“Oh, what a fool I am! I was supposed to show you this. It's a drawing of the girl.”

“Whatever made you forget?”

With a teasing smile Myka reached out. At the sight of the picture her smile disappeared.

“That's impossible.”

“Do you know her?”

“When was the first murder again?”

“This time? At the 14th.”

Helena appeared confused by Myka’s intensity, but Myka ignored her, repeating the date to herself: “January, 14th, 1898...”

“What do you know?” Helena demanded and Myka looked at her again.

“It's the day, Lewis Carroll died.”

“Yes, but I don't see, what...”

Myka held up the picture, pointing at the girl.

“It's Alice!”

“Alice? From the children's book?”

Helena sounded less than convinced, but Myka didn’t care. This was important.

“No, we need to get back to the Warehouse, Helena. There should be records. Alice went crazy, literally, and the Warehouse covered it up. What time is it? Do we have time to go?”

Helena took out her pocket watch and shook her head.

“I'm sorry, but we can go tomorrow, if we don't get her tonight.”

She scrunched up her nose.

“So, you're telling me that this little girl is indeed killing all those people?”

Feeling the urgency of the situation, Myka hurried the stairs down, talking quickly.

“Yes! From what I know they captured her in a mirror, I have no idea how this little pest escaped again! They should have destroyed this stupid mirror long ago!”

“Again?”

Helena repeated from behind her. She was still on the stairs, following too slow for Myka’s taste. Myka rolled her eyes, throwing back over her shoulder.

“She doesn't take kindly to being grounded.”

“Grounded?”

The confusion let Myka to believe that grounding a kid was a new-ish expression. So she explained:

“Locked up in a mirror for decades.”

“You are aware that Alice Liddell was ten years old in 1962, right?”

Myka gritted her teeth at the disbelief in Helena’s voice before nodding.

“Of course. That didn't stop that little monster from wreaking havoc in my time though. We need to get her back into her mirror.”

“What kind of mirror?”

“A big one, life-sized, gilted on the rim. I bet it was Carroll's and he kept her locked up until he died and some stupid relative of his let her out.”

Myka stopped at the door, waiting for Helena who looked thoughtful.

“You seem to know a lot about her...”

“I should. When she escapes in my time, she does it by locking me in there. It's... not one of my favorite memories.”

Myka shuddered and Helena placed a hand on her upper arm.

“She won't get you this time.”

“I should hope not. She captured my conscience and ran around in my body. This time I need my conscience to return at about 4 o'clock tomorrow, not being captured by a crazy, crazy psychotic..”

“Myka, she's just a little girl. Maybe we could help her?”

Myka grimaced and shook her head sadly. She opened the door for Helena.

“No, Helena, the only help she needs is to be put away again. I am sorry, but I met her twice and there's... I thought about saving her, too, but there's no way. Besides, I need to meet her in the mirror in the future.”

Helena nodded, giving Myka a sad smile on her way to the carriage.

“That makes sense, unfortunately.”

“Yes, I know.”

There was a twinkle in Helena’s eye when she regarded Myka.

“So very modest.”

Myka rolled her eyes at Helena and crossed the courtyard. During their short ride she left most of the talking to Helena, getting Magnus caught up on her revelation. When they stopped and a well dressed man climbed into their coach, Myka tried to remain calm. She was pretty sure that this was not just any Nikola, but the Nikola Tesla.

Although Magnus had already handed them stun guns, he presented them with a model that slightly resembled their Teslas, albeit in an unfinished way. Helena was thrilled that he had adjusted it just the way she had suggested, while he informed her that he had acted only on his own accord. His shameless flirting with Helena made Myka uncomfortable until she noticed that he talked to Magnus in the same way. And it didn't stop there.

Once he noticed that she was part of the group, he started teasing her, too. Neither Magnus nor Helena informed him that she wasn't Sally, so she rolled his eyes like she knew him and ordered him to stop.

It was the most peculiar ride Myka had ever made. Listening to HG Wells talking to Nikola Tesla about their standard-Warehouse-issued Teslas to be.

“Where's Watson, the coward?”

Nikola addressed Magnus and it was she who answered.

“Out. He has another case, but when he handed this one over to us, he seemed positive that we would solve it on our own.”

“Sure, he tells us where the danger should be waiting and stays in instead of facing it with us like the man I am!”

“Sure, Nikola, you're the man.”

Helena sounded exasperated, but Myka noticed Magnus's mouth twitching. It reminded her of her conversations with Pete.

He'd be thrilled to get another chance to capture Alice.

Maybe because there was a lot of discussion the ride seemed short. When they arrived Magnus, Tesla and Helena showed every sign of a well trained team. They fanned out automatically, while Myka stayed at Helena's side. Rationally she knew that Helena would be fine, but there was just something about Alice that made her anxious.

They hid behind a carriage, while the other two moved inside the shadows of an alley. It was almost midnight when they noticed a shadow of white fabric around a corner.

Simultaneously, Magnus and Helena moved out of their cover, raising their stun guns.

“Alice, stop! You're cornered. There won't be any murders tonight.”

Alice froze. Her hair was as wild as Myka remembered, the white dress dirtied with suspicious dark stains. When she turned around, moving silently, keeping her hands in the dark behind her dress, Myka noticed that she wasn't even wearing any shoes.

She made a pitiable image.

Which was probably why Magnus faltered, lowering her gun. Tesla at her side hadn't even raised his. Myka saw Helena hesitating, too.

All of this didn't escape little Alice. She gave a high-pitched giggle and quick as a flash she moved her hands into the streetlight, pointed a gun of her own and shot. Myka's heart set out. Although Alice wasn't pointing at them yet, fear for Helena made her actions slower than usual. When her training kicked in, it almost made up for the lost second. She quickly took stance in front of Helena, pointed and shot without hesitating any longer.

Her Tesla hit Alice square in the chest. Wild eyes opened in shock and she tumbled a step backwards, before she staggered and hit the ground, the weapon falling from her hands. Myka hurried over to her, kicked the gun out of her reach, turned the girl and took hold of her hands.

“Does anyone have cuffs?”

Someone handed her simple brass ones, which she fastened quickly.

Just then she noticed a pained groan on her left. She looked up, realizing that she had been too late. Tesla was lying on the ground, Magnus was trying to stop the blood from his chest with her bare hands.

But that couldn't be. Tesla was supposed to live out his life. She had read about him. He still needed to perfect several things, invent others. There was no way...

“Nikola!”

Magnus raised one hand and slapped him hard. Miraculously he regained his conscience after that.

“What?”

“You've been shot, Nikola. What were you thinking? Throwing yourself in front of me like that? That was bloody stupid!”

“I was thinking that while we both have special abilities, you might be killed by a bullet, while I just might survive this. Can we get me into a carriage? These cobblestones are rather cold.”

Myka stared at him, stunned. This was not normal behavior after being shot, right? She felt Helena’s hand on her arm, squeezing reassuring.

“He'll survive. He's tough. Shall we take Alice to the Sanctuary or the Warehouse?”

“Sanctuary.”

Magnus answered quickly.

“Help me with this idiot, Helena. Marie, you can take Alice into the carriage. It will be crowded, but let's just hope she'll remain unconscious until we arrive.”

The ride was fraught with tension. As Helena didn't seem too worried and Myka could practically watch the wound close, she realized that Tesla must be what Magnus called an abnormal.

Fortunately, Alice didn’t regain consciousness before she was safely in a cell. After she had shot Tesla, both Magnus and Helena seemed to think that simply talking to her was out of the picture.

At their arrival Thomas had immediately helped with Tesla, who was now lying on a gurney, still sporting a massive amount of blood on his chest while Helena had left to check on Christina. Magnus looked like she was ready to freak out while Tesla examined himself with mild curiosity. It was a disturbing picture.

“What is it?”

“He's not healing properly! I found the bullet, but the wound won’t close. Usually his wounds close very quickly. It's just that his body doesn't react to well to...”

Myka frowned and stepped up to Magnus, ignoring her rambling and took a look at the bullet.

“Well, there is a piece missing.”

“What?”

She moved around to Tesla, indicating the small scrape at the bullet.

“See, it's really small, it probably broke on a bone of yours.”

“That explains the broken rib.”

“You can feel that?”

He nodded and pointed to the middle of his ribcage.

“Right there, I'm currently in the work of mending it.”

“You can do that deliberately?”

“I can, darling. Does that impress you?”

“Reminds me of some stories I read, actually. Do you think you can feel the piece of bullet and...”

She waved her hand.

“And what, darling?”

“Push it out yourself?”

Next to her Magnus hummed in thought while Tesla seemed similarly intrigued.

“I can certainly try.”

He let his head fall again and closed his eyes, Magnus hovering at his side.

"How does it feel, Nikola?"

Myka wasn't sure in any way that this would work, but if science-fiction and Pete were to be believed, it should be possible. They both stared at his chest as suddenly a new gash of blood appeared. Immediately Magnus moved closer, trying to clean the new mess.

“Dear Lord.”

Her eyes were glistening with excitement as she looked back to Myka.

“It actually worked!”

In between the pool of blood there were the two missing shards of the bullet.

“Marvelous, Nikola.”

“Does that make you fancy me, Helen?”

“Shut up.”

"I mean, you must have been very worried to miss that the bullet wasn't intact,'' he went on. Magnus rolled her eyes, but winked at Myka.

“Thank you.”

“I didn't do anything.”

“You presented a slightly unreasonable idea that actually worked. That's all Nikola ever does.”

“Thank you, Helen. You know, I am listening as I am bleeding to death here.”

“You are going to be perfectly healthy. Just don't move for a couple of hours.”

She looked back to Myka.

“Without your idea this would have been a torture for both of us.”

Myka nodded, accepting the thanks and left the room in search of Helena.

* * *

Since they needed the mirror, Helena persuaded Myka to leave again, theorising that breaking into a dead man's apartment to steal a life-sized mirror might work better in the cloak of the night than at any other time of day.

They didn't talk much on their carriage ride there, both exhausted from the previous events. Myka wasn't surprised when Helena broke the lock in record time.

She expected that it wouldn't take them long to find the mirror. While the apartment was full of strange looking things, the mirror was too huge to miss.

So she strode quickly through the first two rooms, finally finding it in the bedroom. A cloth was lying right in front of it, carelessly thrown aside.

Myka glared at it.

“Marie?”

Helena's voice came from the living room.

“What is it? I have the mirror here.”

“You need to see this...”

Reluctantly Myka left the mirror to look at whatever Helena had detected. She was standing in front of a wall of pictures. A dozen or so photographs of little Alice illuminated only by the moonlight made a ghostly impression.

“He has a lot of them. It's like he was obsessed with her. I wonder how he managed to capture her imprint in the mirror when she is still living out her life.”

“I don't know, Helena. It sounds...”

“Curious, doesn't it?”

“It sounds artifact-y.”

“True.”

Slowly Myka made a turn, her eyes taking in all the strange objects in the room. A collection of clocks was lying on the piano, there were drapes half covering hour glasses, ropes hanging in strange places, a pair of shoes displayed in shelves and mirrors; everywhere she looked were mirrors, little hand mirrors, compacts and taller ones on the walls.

“This whole place looks curious.”

Myka whispered, suddenly smelling the remnants of fudge and hoping she was imagining things.

“True. I plan on sending Wooly here, tomorrow. He should just pack up the whole place.”

“Sounds good to me. Now, shall we get the mirror?”

“So you found it?”

Myka simply nodded. She was not looking forward to carrying the heavy ting through several rooms and down a winding, tight staircase, only to share a cramped carriage with it.

Accompanied by a lot of “bloody hell”s on Helena's part they managed it. As Myka had anticipated there was very little space left with the mirror occupying most of the carriage’s interior.

Myka was almost sitting on Helena's lap, they were bumping against each other at every other turn or corner and while Helena was just leaning back half against the seat and half against the door, visibly exhausted, Myka closed her eyes, desperately trying to block out the feeling of Helena's warm skin so unbelievably close to hers, her scent filling her nose. Helena was quite literally invading her senses.

“You know it would be easier if you just sat on my lap. Can't make it any worse than it already is, judging by the rigidness of your body.”

Myka gave an exasperated sigh. Of course Helena would notice.

“I'm okay. Besides, we're almost there.”

Myka tried to deflect, although she had no idea whether her estimation was anywhere near accurate.

“True, but I'm cold.”

Myka let out a breathless laugh. The high noise that was definitely not her voice shook her back to reality. Dealing with this Helena who was flirting as easy and free like this was much more difficult than she had imagined.

“You're shameless!”

Finally Helena looked up to meet Myka’s eyes. She smiled widely at her, without the smallest trace of remorse.

“Is it working then?”

Myka felt her heart speeding up. Her hands were trembling like those of a lovesick teenager and she pressed them against her legs, hoping it was inconspicuous enough. It wasn't like she had never sat on Helena's lap before. There had been this mission where they had ended up in a car chase with a two-seater, Pete being their driver. Back then there had been no time to be scared or anything, really, and for once Helena had actually kept the flirting down. And this was completely beside the point.

Helena was still returning her gaze, but her smile faltered and she rubbed her upper arm, all teasing gone now. Myka had the strange impression that Helena was unsure, whether her suggestion had gone too far. The last thing she wanted was to impose the invisible boundaries that had always existed between Helena and herself on this Helena. She didn't deserve Myka being so guarded around her, because she hadn't done anything to deserve that. And really, if she was being honest with herself, it took all Myka had to hold on to her sense of decency.

Sitting on Helena's lap was not such a big deal, it might even help in this cold cramped carriage.

Or Myka was, indeed, simply shameless.

Shaking her head to get rid of the last thought, Myka wordlessly braced herself against the side of the carriage as she stood up and motioned for Helena to scoot over. Helena complied immediately and Myka sat hesitantly, remembering that the body she was inhabiting was actually smaller and lighter than Helena's.

Slowly Helena moved her arm behind her back, holding her tighter just before the next road hole threatened to throw Myka to the side. Automatically, it seemed, Helena's other hand shot out, so that she was enveloped in her arms now.

Myka let out a nervous laugh and tried to secure them by holding on to the the seat behind them, her arm brushing Helena's hair. A strand had fought free, resting on Helena's throat, ending just under her clavicle. Myka liked the little waves this intricate hairdo produced.

She noticed too late that Helena had watched her while she had contemplated the softness of Helena's hair. There was an amused glint in Helena’s eyes.

Myka's senses were threatening to become completely overwhelmed by the warmth Helena was providing, the softness of her skin pressing against her, silky hair tickling her own throat and Helena's smell, that smell...

Helena herself had grown silent. She was fixated on Myka, lifting one hand from Myka's waist and pushing the curls out of Myka's face. Despite herself Myka closed her eyes, losing herself in the simple caress of her cheek.

“Helena.”

She wasn't aware anymore that her voice was nothing more than a pleading whisper; she had no idea whatsoever if she was pleading for Helena to stop, or to...

The carriage suddenly halted and Myka was almost thrown off of Helena, but again they held on to one another and for a moment neither of them moved, until Myka hurriedly extricated herself from Helena's embrace. She opened the door and practically fled out of the carriage and into the Sanctuary, where she told the first maid she met that the coachman needed help to transport a mirror into the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the weekend, right? I mean, it's friday, 11pm, so that counts. Next one on Sunday, finger's crossed.


	5. Chapter 5

She didn't stop until she had rounded the first flight of steps, almost stumbling over a motionless figure on the ground. For a horrible instant she thought she had discovered someone who was hurt or worse, but then the tiny person moved.

“Mommy?”

“Christina!”

Christina rubbed her eyes as she sat up and looked up at Myka with tired but inquisitive eyes.

“What are you doing here?”

Myka sighed, desperately trying to get all of her emotions back together instead of all over the place and sat down next to Christina.

“What are _you_ doing up, honey? You should be in bed.”

Christina leaned into her like it was the most natural thing in the world and this time Myka could feel the throbbing of tears in her eyes, building up as a result of the ugly feeling in the depths of her stomach.

“I had a bad dream and went to look for Mommy, but no one was here and I am not allowed downstairs or in the left corridor.”

“So you thought you'd meet her if you just waited on the stairs?”

“Hmhm.”

Christina mumbled against her shoulder in agreement, already drifting off again.

“Marie?”

Myka looked up to find Helena standing at the foot of the stairs, an indistinguishable expression on her face. Swallowing her fears Myka tried to keep her voice light.

“Helena, look who I found on the stairs, waiting for you.”

“Mommy!”

Christina bounced up in excitement. Her own movement was too sudden, her body too tired to properly keep her balance and so she stumbled. Myka jumped up and reached out just in time, catching her around the waist before she could tumble down the stairs.

“Easy there.”

Christina stood very still in her arms, staring at her with wide eyes.

“Thank you.”

“You're welcome.”

Suddenly Helena was standing next to them, protectively laying her hands on Christina's shoulders. For a moment the little girl hovered in both of their embraces before she shifted to rest against her mother.

“I'm putting you to bed now, darling.”

“Are you going to stay with me?”

“I'll stay until you're asleep.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

Apparently that was good enough for Christina. Helena met Myka's eyes over Christina's nodding head, mouthing that she'd be downstairs as soon as she could. Myka just nodded and watched them go.

When they were out of sight, Myka turned around and slowly went to the cellars, looking for Magnus and Tesla.

It became harder and harder for her to just go along with everything.

Not until then did she recall that they were supposed to bring the mirror in. Whirling around she opened the entrance doors just in time to meet two coachmen carrying the insipid thing.

“Where to, Miss?”

“Downstairs.”

She held the door open and allowed them to put the mirror down at the foot of the stairs.

Myka believed she could already hear a string of complaints shouted to no one in particular in the crazed, high voice belonging to Alice.

Stifling a yawn she moved farther into the room, becoming aware of different voices.

Magnus and Tesla were apparently arguing about something. She rounded the corner, surprised to see Tesla standing, gesturing wildly with his hands.

“She shot me, Helen. Shot _me_! I need retribution. And I don't care that she looks like a child, this is one mean little monster. You can hear her screaming, teasing me.”

“Yes, and this is exactly why I won't let you near her. You were never good at exercising restraint. She needs to be detained. Maybe we can find out, how her existence is even possible, when her older self is still alive, seemingly healthy.”

Myka sighed. There was the scientific curiosity she had been afraid of.

“No, you won't. She needs to go back to where she came from.”

Both of them turned to her, Tesla's face lighting up.

“Oh, the angel who saved me from hours of never-ending suffering.”

Magnus rolled her eyes at him. She seemed short of hitting him.

“Stop being so dramatic, Nikola.”

She shook her head and turned to Myka.

“You seem to have an idea how to handle the creature?”

“I found the object that contained her. We just need to get her back inside.”

“That sounds terribly easy and particularly painless.”

Tesla seemed genuinely disappointed, but Myka gave him a wry smile.

“She won't make it easy. I'm afraid we have to get her out of her cell and right in front of the mirror. Also, we need some kind of camera equipment to produce a big explosion of light that will force her back into it.”

“Do you mean lightning? Let this be my concern.”

Myka narrowed her eyes at Tesla's self-satisfied smile, but Magnus nodded.

“Just like he can survive a deadly bullet wound, he'll be able to produce a bright light. Do you think that's how Alice got into the mirror?”

Myka shrugged.

“I can only guess, but Carroll's place was filled with strange objects. I wouldn't be surprised if one of his cameras had special qualities and he took a picture of Alice in front of his mirror, somehow capturing her essence.”

“This is a sound theory.”

Helena answered as she entered the room, her eyes fixed on a couple of papers in her hands.

“I send a boy over to Caturanga to find out everything about Lewis Carroll and Alice. The girl went on a murder spree after a visit to Carroll's house. It is no secret that he always made photographs. She was stopped by Warehouse agents who collected the Curiosity responsible and tweaked little Alice's memory so that she didn't remember anything. Unfortunately, no one seemed to know about the mirror, or how many Curiosities Carroll actually possessed.”

She finally looked up. There was no trace of their previous encounter. Helena seemed all business. Myka was relieved at the case giving her a break to gather herself.

“So," Helena began, "how do we go about getting her into the mirror and back to the Warehouse?"

Magnus nodded at her.

“Marie has just informed us that it needs a bright lightning to capture little Alice and Tesla kindly offered his help.”

Finally Helena looked at Tesla like she had just realized that he was in the room.

“Are you alright, Nikola?”

“Of course. A little midnight gunshot wound is exactly what I needed to stay awake.”

All three women rolled their eyes.

* * *

At first Myka was very skeptical toward the plan the three geniuses were devising, but it took Tesla only one try of bursting electrical energy from his suddenly elongated fingertips to convince her.

They were going to open Alice's cell, Magnus and Thomas were supposed to block the exit towards the common rooms and staircase, guiding Alice toward the little hall, where the mirror would be placed, Tesla next to it. Myka and Helena would wait with him, ready to intervene if the little monster tried to flee.

Something about the plan made Myka uneasy, but since she had no idea what, she kept silent, only uncomfortably rubbing her neck. While Thomas and Nikola placed the mirror, Helena smiled at her reassuringly.

“These three are excellent. There is nothing that can go wrong with them at our side.”

Myka simply nodded and smiled back at her, not mentioning that mere hours ago Alice had shot Tesla and nearly escaped them. She hadn't noticed that Helena had come nearer until she nudged Myka with her shoulder.

“Don't look so glum, darling. If we do this now, we still have a little bit of time left. I do remember that I promised to show you London in its snow-covered glory.”

Despite her nervousness Myka responded to Helena's wide smile in kind.

“I'm looking forward to that.”

“I should hope so.”

Helena responded with a crooked grin and an obvious determination to flirt. Myka wondered how she had ever resisted her. She shook her head and gave a disbelieving laugh.

“Is there anything that can make you insecure?”

“Hmm... Let's see, catching monster in the middle of the night? Business as usual. Maybe people with antiquated ideas of society? But no. My family only dreams of it. You know, honestly, I don't think there is.”

Still shaking her head, Myka took Helena by her wrist.

“Come on, we need to get further back.”

“To punish the little monster.”

“Don't let Magnus hear you say that. She thinks every living creature...”

“Deserves at least a chance, I heard that countless times. This isn't a living creature though. She is just the imprint of a crazy Artifact.”

“Artifact?”

“Curiosity.”

“You are aware that you sometimes use strange phrases, aren't you?”

“What do you expect from someone who travels through time?”

This time it was Helena's turn to roll her eyes and snort.

"Next you're going to tell me, you're American."

Myka waved that idea away with a simple shrug.

"Who knows?"

They kept their banter up, slowly forgetting to listen for Magnus's signal.

In retrospect they knew they should have been more careful. They hadn't heard either Thomas opening Alice's cell, or her shrieks as she was coming closer.

What they did notice was the girl suddenly standing in front of them, wild-eyed, shivering like a hunted animal. She whirled around, away from them and saw the mirror.

“No!”

They closed in on her, blocking every possible way of escape.

“Now!”

Helena gave the signal and Tesla jumped out from behind them, fingers crackling with energy. Myka was focused on Alice, seeing the realization dawning on her face.

“No!”

In the blink of an eye Alice had produced something out of her tiny jacket. She held a silvery gun steady in both hands, aiming at the nearest target and shot.

Myka reacted. She did what she had been trained to do, what she had repeated so often, it had become an ingrained part of her subconsciousness. There was a flash of light as she lunged forward and spun around. Almost immediately the impact threw her backwards and into Helena.

Because her eyes were still trained on Alice, she witnessed how she was pulled back into the mirror, silver energy crackling all around them, the gun clattering to the ground with a sound of finality.

Not until strong arms softened her fall became Myka aware of the pain in her chest. As she was carefully placed on the ground she looked down on herself, seeing a red substance on white fabric, not quite understanding what it was. There was a ringing in her ears, obliterating all sounds. She felt Helena's hands on her, carefully placing her on the hard floor and suddenly her pain doubled as someone pressed their hands on her chest.

Wincing, she noticed Magnus's blonde hair above her, still not hearing, not understanding a word they said until Helena's frantic screaming broke through the protective haze her mind had created. Helena's words still didn't particularly make any sense, but it didn't sound like they made a great deal of sense at all. She heard a slap and the next thing she knew was that Magnus was calmly but explicitly instructing Helena to get up and go to the room to the side, to get something that might help her. Helena disobeyed and sent Tesla instead.

For the first time Myka really looked down on herself. Her entire upper body was covered in blood, which was still spilling all over Magnus's hands. There was no way she was going to survive this.

Panic tried to overwhelm her again, diminishing her field of vision to a colored spot, surrounded by nothing but blackness. When she felt her head being carefully lifted into Helena's lap, the action accompanied by soothing murmurs, some of her logical reasoning returned. It was easy for Helena to pull her toward her, because she was much smaller than she was supposed to be. This was not her body, she was not dying. So Myka desperately tried to look up at Helena. She was almost relieved when she finally managed to establish eye-contact with her.

“You said, if we die in those bodies our minds might be lost in limbo, right?”

Her mind was hazy, but something reminded her that there was still hope, a tiny piece of hope, but still hope.

“Darling, don't try to speak, you're not making sense.”

“No.”

Myka struggled. This was important. She needed to sit up, to talk to Helena, to get her to reassure her that there was a chance. Suddenly there were hands holding her down.

“Don't move!”

It was Magnus who instructed her, her voice almost devoid of any emotion, entirely focused on the task of keeping her alive.

“You said, time travel was possible because our minds are all connected, like past lives, in limbo. Does this mean, if I die, I die?”

Something about the way Helena's dark eyes focused on her, told her that despite her voice being nothing but a weak whisper, she had been listening, had understood and Myka was almost ready to relax again, ready to hear her verdict.

“Do you mean using the Gestalt-theory on the collective unconsciousness?”

Myka nodded.

“Sounds like what you said.”

She watched Helena think for a moment, a frown building on her face, coming to a conclusion without voicing it aloud.

“So, I'm gonna die.”

“No, darling, you won't. We'll make sure of that.”

“Helena, where's Tesla with my bag?”

There was some indistinct shouting from behind them and Helena got up, putting Myka's head on a jacket or something similar.

“I'll get it.”

Myka swallowed, Magnus's hands were still pressing on her abdomen, where her vest and blouse were ripped open, several red cloths inefficiently sipping up the blood.

“I'm not...”

She asked and Magnus's expression told her all she needed to know. She was going to die, saving Helena. It was almost poetic in a way, considering how they had kept saving each other.

Myka knew that the past was not to be changed, but as she lay bleeding on the ground, feeling the life seep out of her, there was one thought foremost on her mind. She had at least to try, right?

If she died, if her reality seized to exist, maybe it could be changed? Create an alternative reality?

So she focused on Magnus once again.

“Magnus?”

Certain that she had her attention, Myka focused on getting the words out. They were important.

“You can let Helena take Christina to Paris.”

Magnus narrowed her eyes at her.

“That is...”

“Don't let Christina go to Paris.”

“Helen, I found it.”

Suddenly Helena plopped down next to her and cradled Myka's head again.

“You see, darling, Magnus is going to save you. You will be fine. This won't be for naught.”

It felt comforting, so Myka didn't use the last bit of energy she had correcting Helena. Instead she let her soothing voice wash over her and closed her eyes, relaxing against her.

A tight grip against her shoulder brought her back to reality.

“Don't you dare!”

Helena hissed into her ear.

“I'm not gonna let you die for me!”

Myka had the insane urge to laugh at that, wondering how many times they had faced critical circumstances, but the feeling disappeared at once when she heard the gurgle in her throat. She knew and felt enough to see that whatever Magnus was doing was failing. Judging by the entrance wound, she was surprised that she was still alert at all and doubted whether even a hospital from her time would have been able to do anything.

She tried to lift her hand, wanting to touch Helena once more. There was something wet against her cheek and she realized that Helena was crying, the tears dropping on Myka's face. She noticed what Myka was trying to do and held Myka's hand up to her cheek, covering Myka's trembling fingers with her own. There was soft skin under Myka's fingers, she moved her hand slightly to stroke Helena's cheek and managed to smile, trying to convey that it was okay. Helena shook her head, barely perceptible as Magnus was still talking, sounding more desperate by the second.

Myka thought she should probably inform Magnus that she had stopped to feel any pain, that she felt like floating, wondering whether Magnus had put some strange medication inside of her, although she knew what was happening.

She focused on Helena, despite the obvious distress, Helena was still incredibly beautiful and she cared so much. She didn't even know Myka yet, still she cared.

The feeling that she had lost the fight of survival loosened all of Myka's carefully restricted boundaries. She smiled again, feeling the last strength leaving her body, looking at Helena, thinking that if her face was the last thing she saw, it was okay.

“I love you.”

She thought, before everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one turned out rather short. Sorry!  
> Also... sorry for the ending?  
> It's happening for a reason.
> 
> Also, I lied. It's not Sunday yet. Although, if I squint, I'm pretty sure it's already Sunday in Australia, so Sunday posting.
> 
> Please let me know what you think!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which there is some necessary talking. (Also, never promise to do something at a certain time, when you are around extended family.)

Blackness greeted her, surrounded her, swallowed her up, to never let her go. Myka was and wasn’t at the same time. She was floating in the nothingness of everything between time and space.

Until the bottom dropped out and she fell into her body.

Suddenly there was something underneath her, something was constricting her head, there was smell and…

“Myka!”

Sound. Someone gripped her hand. And feeling. 

“Myka, you’re okay, everything’s okay. Just look at me.”

The smell of oil and shampoo, familiar calluses on her hand.

Myka stopped struggling, took a breath and forced herself to open her eyes. It was bright red.

Wait. There was a face.

“Claudia?”

“Yes, you recognize me?”

She finally focused on Claudia and nodded once. Claudia’s smile was as bright as the surrounding light.

“Myka?”

Confused, she turned in the other direction.

Dr. Calder?

“Myka, would you answer a couple of questions for me?”

The light shining in her eyes was something she immediately tried to forget.

She also had to reign in any complaints against having to sit in this chair, straps around her head and arms secure, until Dr. Calder was satisfied that she was healthy and herself. When they finally released her, she hopped out of the seat, glad to be free.

Or that was the plan.

Until her legs gave out and Claudia helped her to sit down on the ground without hurting herself.

Dr. Calder and Claudia helped her to get to a nearby chair, where Pete was hovering, touching her shoulder, asking her if she was alright. Behind him Steve stood, looking unusually tense. Next to him, Artie was fidgeting, not meeting he eyes.

Myka closed her eyes until she smelled food.

The fact that she was well enough to eat and drink seemed to reassure them and they gave her a modicum of space. She was glad that they allowed her to walk (Pete and Claudia on either side) because that got her further away from Claudia’s machine.

They kept talking over each other, clearly relieved and excited. Myka drowned them out until she was back in the office, falling into the familiar sofa and concentrating on Artie.

“What happened?”

She knew what had happened at her end, but none of that explained her welcome party.

“I called to see that everything was alright. When they wouldn’t let me talk to you, I came back.”

Claudia dropped next to her into the couch.

“Apparently, time travel is forbidden, like really, really forbidden.”

Artie growled and spit out between clenched teeth.

“Which is also the reason I was angry about the episode with Jack and Rebecca, and HG.”

Myka looked at him, waiting for him to continue. But he simply stared at her for a long while before huffing.

“Time travel is forbidden because an Agent died when a traveler inhabited their body.”

Myka nodded. This was nothing new to her.

“Agent Wells later theorized that it killed both Agents at the time, which made the Regents pass an edict that forbade time travel.”

Myka met his gaze.

“You could have told us that any time after our first journey.”

He nodded, not meeting her eyes.

"Where are the records?"

He sighed.

"They, together with a heartfelt letter of Agent Wells, are with Jack and Rebecca's records because I left them there.

“I talked to Agent Wells, she assured me that the time machine was no longer operational. Beyond that I didn’t see the sense in burdening you with the fact that your time travel could have killed you.”

Myka could feel Claudia trembling next to her. So she took her hand and squeezed.

“I should have known, Artie.”

Claudia sounded small.

“You should not be tinkering with unknowns! Your inventions have to be authorized by me or Mrs. Frederic. Which you know. Which is why you didn’t wait for us!”

His voice was gruff as usual but sharper and Myka drowned them out.

It was the same as always. Only sharing what he deemed pertinent.

Still holding on to Claudia’s hand, Myka leaned into Pete on her other side. She closed her eyes, only to see little Alice with her gun, shooting, and hear Helena screaming.

Maybe she’d better keep her eyes open.

For the foreseeable future.

“Ehm, guys,” Steve cut through the ruckus. He was looking at the computer screens. “Someone is at the door.”

Right.

After a quick calculation Myka sat up.

The face on the monitor didn’t help her quick heart rate.

Magnus’s hair was brown now instead of blonde but her face was exactly the same. Myka was at the same time surprised and not.

“Our vampire artifact,” Myka explained and Claudia hit her forehead.

“Of course, you said they’d deliver it today.”

“No.”

Myka blinked up at the coldness in Artie's voice.

“That woman is not entering the warehouse,” he proclaimed just as Magnus held Myka’s written permission into the camera. Myka got up and activated the buzzer.

Immediately, everyone talked over each other until she flinched.

“Artie, am I right to assume that in HG’s file, the annotation every year is because someone wants answers?”

He exploded: “The Warehouse does not work with the Sanctuary and it does not release information the Regents decided against divulging in the first place.”

Myka stared him down.

“Because keeping stuff to oneself generally works out so well around here, right?”

She’d managed to silence the entire room before the door opened and Magnus walked in.

Her gaze flickered over every person before settling on Artie.

“Arthur, I’ve brought you a present. Thank you for letting me in.”

No one spoke and Artie refused to meet her eyes.

Magnus nodded to herself, like she had expected nothing else.

“Alright then.”

She produced two boxes out of her backpack, and sought Artie’s gaze.

“This is the artifact I was entrusted with,” she put it on the table and held up the other box. “This one I found in Toronto. You know what I want.”

Artie shook his head.

“I have no information to give to you. You need to hand over that artifact.”

Magnus cocked her head.

“We’ve met three times in the last twenty years. I hardly believe that in all that time you were never curious enough to look up the information I seek.”

Myka thought you had to be able to read people very well to notice the edge of desperation to Magnus’s features.

Or you simply had to watch her become desperate as she was failing to save your life.

When Myka took a step towards Magnus, everyone tensed up. Pete twitched for his Tesla and Magnus’s stance became even more rigid than it already was. Myka just offered her hand.

“Myka Bering, I’m sorry for the loss of Sally Morgan.”

Magnus’s eyes widened slightly, but she shook Myka’s hand.

“So you’ve made it back.”

It wasn’t exactly a question but Myka nodded to satisfy the curiosity in her voice.

“Helena deemed it nigh impossible.”

Myka nodded again, slowly.

“If you leave the artifact with my colleagues, I’d gladly give you your answers.”

“Myka!”

Artie sounded shocked but Myka just gave him a look.

“I think she waited long enough, don’t you?”

Magnus simply put the other box down too. Her hand was shaking, so Myka let out a breath.

“There is a B and B up the road, would you care for a cup of tea?”

Magnus raised an eyebrow before taking in the room again.

“Would you care for a ride?”

Myka nodded, thankful. She needed to get out.

“I’ll drive,” Pete, immediately at her side.

In the end, Pete and Claudia came along, while Magnus followed them in her car. Myka barely managed to get them to stay in the kitchen, but they left Magnus and Myka with the semblance of privacy in the dining room.

Myka straightened her shoulders, cleared her throat, and met Magnus’s eyes.

“You want to know what happened to Helena?”

Magnus nodded, a brittle smile on her face.

“I know it is probably information you’ve gotten out of records and books, but you’ve also seen that she was important. I’d simply like to know what happened.”

“What do you think happened?”

Because no matter how often Myka had looked, there was barely any information on the famous writer’s sister or niece for that matter.

Helena shrugged, hiding emotion in the nonchalant gesture.

“It was said that she had succumbed to her grief and killed herself.”

Myka barely managed to keep herself from shuddering.

“But?”

Magnus sighed, letting her shoulders slump, letting the nonchalance fall away.

“I know it is most likely not important to you, and I’ve waited for a long time, but…”

“She had been bronzed,” Myka interrupted and Magnus fell silent, first in surprise then with a frown.

“It is a form of suspension that the Warehouse employs,” Myka explained, “she was frozen.”

“Was?”

“Someone, an enemy of the Warehouse, released her, thinking she would help him. He needed…”, Myka shrugged. That wasn’t really important.

“She became a member of the team, some things happened, and she is now living in Wisconsin under an assumed name.”

Magnus blinked once, swallowed.

“Is she well?”

Myka took a deep breath.

“She is physically fine and mentally...” she hesitated, “about as well as can be expected, I guess.”

Then she caught herself. It was late, too late, and she blamed the bone-deep exhaustion, the fear, the adrenaline, and shook her head.

“I’m being unfair, I think. She is fine, good really, seems content in her life. I shouldn’t begrudge her wanting to stay away from the Warehouse.”

Magnus nodded again, her eyes never leaving Myka’s face until Myka rubbed her neck and looked away. She leaned across the the table for a notebook, jotted Emily Lake’s name, address and mobile phone number down and pushed it towards Magnus.

“Here. You can see for yourself, if you want.”

Magnus picked the note up as if were precious, folded it and put in in her jacket’s pocket.

“I’m not sure she wants to see me. I’m not terribly difficult to find, if one knows where to look.”

Myka shrugged.

“Despite the fact that you’re sitting here across from me, looking exactly like my yesterday which was over a century ago, she might not have wanted to know for certain that another friend was dead.”

Magnus frowned.

“I don’t die.”

Myka tilted her head to the side.

“Not ever? Bullet wounds, vampire bites? Because your work seemed dangerous, even if you don’t age. And Nikola seemed to think you could die.”

Magnus nodded slowly.

“So, I’m the cat and the world is the box?”

Myka managed a weak grin.

"Depending on the day, I guess humanity is the gift."

Magnus's face fell, but she recovered quickly, nodding to herself. 

“Alright then, I’ll be off.”

With the animosity still radiating from the kitchen, Myka hadn’t expected anything else. So she simply shook Magnus’s hand again.

“It takes about eight and a half hours from here.”

“Thank you.”

As soon as Magnus was gone, Pete and Claudia descended on her again.

Fortunately, it was only them and they were interested in her well being, which they showed by loading her up with food. For once, she didn’t object.

* * *

“So,” Abigail started as she came into the kitchen. Myka rolled her eyes and didn’t turn around. There were few people who could infuse two letters with so much meaning. Unfortunately, she knew a great deal too many.

As Myka continued cutting up fruit for her cereal, Abigail sat at the breakfast bar and poured herself some orange juice, clearly ready to wait her out. With a huff, Myka sat down.

“Yes?”

“You know the Secret Service requires counseling after near death experiences.”

Myka nodded, but started eating, not looking up. She heard Abigail sigh.

“Look, I’ll be frank. I think it’s stupid that the Warehouse doesn’t have similar guidelines. But they also trust you to ask for help when you need it, especially considering how often you Agents are skirting death.”

Myka stopped eating to look Abigail in the eye.

“I’m fine.”

“Yes, and I am relying on that to be true because I’m leaving for a few days for a Regent matter. But, should that change, you can call me and we can have a telephone or even video call session. You are allowed to change your mind on being fine.”

“I’m really…” Myka shook her head, searching for the words, “I know that it is not exactly healthy for us to deal with death like we do, but for the most part we are simply happy to be alive and that’s it. Honestly, seeing Helena, meeting Christina was much more difficult than another near death experience.”

Abigail’s eyebrows shot up and Myka closed her eyes.

“I blame the fact that I hardly slept and everyone keeps asking me how I am.”

“Do you want to talk? About any of that?”

Defenses down, Myka allowed herself to nod.

“Yes, I probably should. Especially seeing Christina was…” she swallowed, “But, I’m honestly, mostly, good, so you can deal with your Regent matter and maybe we can talk after.”

Abigail nodded slowly.

“You’re thinking that you’ll be fine when I get back, so you won’t have to talk to me?”

Myka gave her a crooked smile.

“I’m trusting the Warehouse to trust me on my own judgement.”

Abigail rolled her eyes, but stood up. She squeezed Myka’s shoulder once and left the room.

“Uhm, Myka?”

The difference in her tone put Myka on immediate alert.

She stumbled up and hurried to the hallway, where Abigail stood, looking through the door. Myka followed her gaze to see an unfamiliar car, a shadow walking up the path in the early dawn.

After a gaggle of actual tourists had wanted rooms at the B&B, they had installed an artifact that dissuaded strangers from coming close. (The downside was that it smelled strongly of oranges around the perimeter, but like Claudia said, that was no real downside.)

Myka’s hand dropped to her hip. She slowly pulled her Tesla out, only to let it slip out of her hand, once the person turned toward the door.

Faintly, she noticed Abigail calling her name again, but Myka was already opening the door.

“Helena?”

“Myka.”

Helena took a step back, swayed away from her and Myka stopped her hurried way out. 

She paused in the door. For a moment they stared at each other in the dim morning light, with the faint scent of oranges around them. Until Myka remembered herself.

“Would you like to come in?”

She moved back, freeing up the entrance, and Helena followed. Her eyes were darting everywhere, never settling, her shoulders were drawn up and Myka was almost expecting her to bolt in the next minute.

Abigail frowned.

“Hello?”

Helena rolled her eyes and straightened herself, losing some of her tension.

“Hello Abigail.”

They knew each other.

“How?”

Helena, understanding immediately, shrugged in a failed attempt of nonchalance.

“I’ve been talking to Abigail for months, trying to get a grip on certain difficulties.”

“That’s,” Myka swallowed, eyes flickering between the two of them. “That’s good. I’m glad, I think.”

Helena moved past her to the kitchen, immediately busying herself.

“Would you mind a tea?”

“Yes, I mean, no, I wouldn’t mind, thank you?”

Myka followed slowly. She stopped in the doorway and watched Helena move about the kitchen as if she’d never left. As if she’d never tried to find a life outside of the Warehouse.

“I recall suggesting coffee, but you know that I still don’t it like all that much.”

Behind her, Abigail cleared her throat: “I’ll be packing my things. I must leave in a bit. We’ll talk on the phone, Helena? Myka?”

“Of course, Abigail,” Helena sounded self-assured, but Myka only managed a nod. Maybe this was what an out of body experience felt like, standing here in the kitchen entrance only able to watch.

“What are you doing here?”

And blurting out her foremost thought.

Helena flinched. It was slight, but there. Myka backtracked.

“I’m sorry, you have, of course, every right to be here.”

She rubbed her neck. “It’s just, people usually call? Ahead?”

Helena laughed without any sense of mirth.

“Yes, well. As I’d had a rather interesting unannounced visitor myself yesterday, I decided to be spontaneous. I didn’t call as I rather suspected I might chicken out.”

The American expression sounded weird to Myka’s ears, especially because it didn’t have that tinge of uncertainty to it, the worry that Helena was somehow using the words wrong, because she knew the meaning, knew she was using it right.

And Myka was digressing.

In her own mind.

“Why?”

The water was on the stove, tea strainer and mugs ready. Helena turned around.

“Fear had become my constant companion. I was afraid of my own mind, of caring for people who could die, which is essentially every person, even myself, even when certain jobs are more dangerous and…”

Helena stopped herself, closed her eyes and took a breath.

“I’m beginning this all wrong.”

Myka decided to take some of the tension away by finally sitting down. Helena smiled at her like she knew exactly what Myka was doing. Which was probably true. So Myka just shrugged.

“I’m listening.”

Even though she could feel the frown on her forehead deepening.

“Well, Myka, you see, I’ve been mostly afraid of certainties. Uncertainty is… well let’s say malleable, easier to deal with, but certainties?”

She shrugged, helpless, before dealing with the water. Myka watched her silently, until Helena sat down across from her, steaming teapot between them.

She looked Myka right in the eye.

“The difference is almost intangible, but important. We all know that one day we’re going to die. But none of us know how or when. Christina’s death was a fact of my past that I was set to reclaim, to make malleable again, in the aftermath.”

Helena fidgeted with the mugs, rearranging them in front of the teapot, before giving Myka a sad smile.

“I wasn’t able to live my life by trying to alter a certainty again.”

Myka’s frown only grew more pronounced as Helena regarded her intently, wanting to be understood. Myka shook her head, and made a gesture for Helena to continue, to expand, to make some sense.

Helena sighed.

“Myka, I’m talking about you. There was a time when I wasn’t so consumed by grief anymore, when I let myself think, that certain memories came back to me.”

Helena still smiled, even though it looked painful now.

“Then there was hubris. I am afraid it is rather one of my worst character traits.”

She held out a trembling hand, and only breathed out after Myka put her own hand into hers.

“You see? I thought it impossible that anyone should recreate or repair my time machine.”

Myka twitched and Helena’s hand closed on her fingers, holding tight.

“I am so very sorry. I thought that by staying away, I was protecting you. As long as I stayed away there would be no strange but inexorable reasoning to repair the time machine for a mission. There would be no time travel. There would be no death. I thought I was keeping you safe.”

She sounded so certain, so soft, that something inside of Myka broke as something else mended itself. She pulled her hand back, crossing her arms.

“And why was that your decision to make? Don’t you think it is my decision to risk my life or not?”

Something in Helena’s eyes flickered.

“Maybe it has something to do with me when it is me you jump in front of, me you are trying to save from a bullet.”

Myka leaned back, realizing how aggressive her angle on the table had been, conceding the point.

“Maybe, but it is still my life and my decision to make.”

Helena busied herself with serving the tea, clearly giving herself time to find the right arguments.

Myka wasn’t having it. This was just… As she began to understand, as she allowed herself to think about the recent consequences of her time travel, one question was prominent in her mind.

“When did you know?”

“Hm?”

This was not evading, Helena was confused about the change of topic.

“When did you know? That it was me in the past? That you were sure I would die that way? Because this is what we're talking about, right?”

Helena concentrated on measuring out a tiny amount of milk, refusing to meet Myka’s gaze. Her hand was trembling almost imperceptibly.

“I can’t exactly be sure. A great many times I tried not to be sure.”

Exasperated, Myka blew out a breath.

“Helena, when?”

Myka almost flinched. Years of training prevented her from displaying any unconscious reactions, but the way Helena’s eyes had flickered up to her face when she had said her name, like saying Helena's name anchored Helena to this reality, to this moment. And Myka wasn’t sure she liked having that power.

After looking at Myka Helena’s gaze flickered through the room until she came back to her.

“You have to understand something first.”

Myka uncrossed her arms, ready to listen. It seemed to relax Helena further.

“I was, still sometimes am, very unbalanced since I got out of the bronzer.”

Myka tried to subdue the urge but then allowed herself to raised her eyebrows, unsurprised. Helena rolled her eyes in response.

“Yes, well. It was difficult to keep myself in the here and now and when I thought back to the past it was always divided in before and after. After Christina’s death nothing good happened, before then everything was good. It is not true, I’m aware, but there was only pain. And I lived in it,” Myka almost regretted asking when Helena just shrugged, met her eyes once before focusing on her tea, spooning in sugar.

“After, with the Janus Coin, I didn’t have any awareness when the orb wasn’t activated.”

Myka nodded, she knew this. Helena looked almost sheepish.

“So that didn’t allow for much introspective thoughts. When I woke up, my body dressed in Emily Lakes’ clothes, there was again, too much happening, but once I got the Astrolabe and had to hide away under orders not to contact any of you, I started thinking about the way you looked at me before Artie diffused the bomb. You were so sure, with the chess lock, that I would save you, but then, with that bomb, you were afraid. And I had the worst sense of déjà-vu, I didn’t have time to look at it, of course, but it came back to me afterward.

“When I put the both of them together it was simple, really. Who else would take a bullet for me?”

Myka shook her head, reeling. She grabbed her own mug, tea and sugar, before looking up again.

“Do you think that’s why you saved us? In that other reality? Before Artie turned back time?”

Helena shrugged.

“I don’t think so. I didn’t connect the dots until much later, but I can’t be sure of course. It could also have been an unconscious motivater. We can’t be sure, we can never be sure of such things.”

Myka frowned and Helena sighed.

“Did you take that bullet for me because Artie told you that I sacrificed myself for you in that other timeline? Was that a motivation?”

“I’m a trained Secret Service Agent, Helena. When there is a gun and a shot, I jump.”

“Myka, I am  _not_ the president.”

Myka scowled. She couldn’t help herself. She blamed the early hour, the sudden appearance of Helena after the last couple of days, after seeing… 

“I am aware.”

"Myka," and it wasn't reproach, only just.

Plus, she felt it, deep within her and had to swallow. Myka hadn't forgotten, she'd never forgotten the way Helena said her name, how she could put so many emotions in two syllables. The way her voice buried itself deep inside of Myka, a comfortable weight of relaxation.

How she could console, reproach, light a fire with her voice and those eyes.

Myka hadn't forgotten it. But she hadn't allowed herself to dwell on it either. So the combination to the full effect was shocking.

She had to look away, allow herself to breathe.

Helena gave her a couple of seconds and it was another reminder of how well they could read each other when they made the effort, how well they knew each other.

“You are trained to take a bullet for a specific person. You aren’t trained to take a bullet for your partner, but to protect them by reaching for your own gun. A Secret Service Agent protects the president, a bodyguard might jump in front of a bullet, none of that justifies taking a bullet for me.”

Myka fought the urge to cross her arms again.

“It’s a reaction, not a conscious decision.”

Helena nodded.

“Precisely, You weren’t thinking, you were reacting. Which is something I don’t want you to do.”

Myka felled her eyes burn. Now it was her smile that felt painful, but that couldn’t be helped.

“Why? Because you don’t think you deserve that?”

“Because I don’t want you to risk your own life. For me.”

There was so much to unpack in that. A brief moment Myka thought of Abigail and how Helena could still value herself that little after months of working with the therapist, but then a sense of self-worth didn’t just magically appear.

So she went another way.

“Well, I don’t want you to do that either.”

Helena blinked, not computing and Myka grinned. Going from defense to offense felt good.

“You, with your self-sacrificing, wanting Pete to destroy the Janus coin, letting yourself burn to save us in the Warehouse.”

“You are aware that I don’t remember the letter?”

Myka shrugged.

“I do remember the former.”

Helena made a face, losing some of her composure to anger.

“Well, maybe none of that was a selfless act. We might not know about the other timeline, but who says it was selfless? Maybe it was it itself an utterly selfish act.”

Myka swallowed, knowing where this was leading. They were coming dangerously close to the unspoken thing between them. She had been under the impression that it was also an unspoken agreement to not speak about it.

Her heart was obviously not thinking about caution because it was galloping in preparation for something that would, as usual, remain unspoken.

So. There was no need to make a fuss about it.

Even if her heart remained unhelpful.

“The selfish part of me didn’t want you to do any of it either. That doesn’t mean that I’m not grateful, because I understand it. I don’t want you to allow us to destroy the Janus coin, or blow yourself up with the Warehouse, but I get doing it to protect us, protect the Warehouse.”

Myka rubbed her neck.

“You can’t do those things on the one hand and chastise me for doing the same.”

Helena nodded once, as if accepting this was an old hat that she still wouldn’t wear.

“Believe me, darling, I’m well aware of the dichotomy.”

She moved her hand through her hair and sat up straight.

“Nevertheless, we have arrived at the beginning of our conversation. My most selfish desire of not seeing you hurt. Knowing that you would die, in the Warehouse, due to something I build, protecting me, was inconceivable,” Helena shook her head, before meeting Myka’s eyes, her gaze and voice suddenly gentle. “I had been working on accepting it, to come back, you know?”

This didn’t help Myka’s heart rate. At all.

“You did?”

“Yes, Magnus is an excellent investigator or she wouldn’t have been able to find me yesterday, as I’ve moved out months ago. I was working on coming back. I just couldn’t find a way to accept something so unfair. So I resigned myself to accept it enough to come back and find a way to prevent it from happening, which brought the fear of obsessing about that, and I’m quite certain it would have taken three sessions a week with Abigail to keep me sane and not just functioning, but I was moving in the right direction.”

Myka’s head was spinning. This was…

It made sense. It made so much sense, it just felt… overwhelming. Everything Helena said was overwhelming. How could anyone cope with that? 

Well, if anyone could manage it was Helena who had experienced too much loss already.

Myka swallowed, but when she stayed silent, not able to meet Helena’s hopeful gaze, Helena continued.

“Magnus wasn’t going to tell me what had happened here. She had planned to simply tell me that she had met some Warehouse Agents on a mission and you had been kind enough to tell them about me because you read her yearly request for information.”

Helena was fidgeting with her hands, focusing on them.

“Only when she realized why I was still living in the middle of nowhere, did she tell me that the time travel had already happened and you were alive and well. It was…”

Helena closed her eyes.

“I felt so full of conflicting emotions, but mostly there was guilt. Because my staying away had endangered you. I could have warned you about not using whatever Claudia built,” she stopped herself, “It was Claudia, wasn’t it?”

At Myka’s nod Helena continued, eyes flickering away immediately.

“Because I wasn’t there, you went and used it and it almost cost you your life. My staying away to protect you would have resulted in the exact opposite.”

The naked need in Helena’s eyes was devastating. The need to be forgiven, the need to see Myka well, to...

“I am sorry, Myka, for not realizing this sooner.”

Myka held out her hands. Helena grasped them immediately, and Myka held on tight.

“I’m here. I’m fine. I can’t promise to always be alright, my workplace safety is laughable, but I am here. I did not die because of something you did or didn’t do.”

Helena nodded and smiled but the nod was jerky, the smile fraying around the edges.

Myka could not find any reasons against it (there were dozens, but right now she wasn’t letting herself think about any of them). Without letting go of Helena’s hands, she stood up and rounded the table while Helena followed her movement wide-eyed. Leaning down, Myka let go of one hand to pull Helena towards her.

As soon as Helena understood she disentangled her other hand and got up to draw Myka into a tight full body hug, hiding her face in Myka’s shoulder.

Myka held her tight with one hand behind Helena’s back as Helena’s hands were on her lower back and hip, both clutching in her shirt, holding on. She stroked over Helena’s hair with her other hand, losing herself in the soothing movement, in the feeling of Helena’s soft hair.

It was even softer than she’d imagined.

And it was finally time to stop denying how often she’d imagined doing that.

She leaned down, put her cheek on Helena’s hair, breathed her in and allowed herself to hold on to Helena, just as much as Helena was holding on to Myka, mutually assuring themselves of the other’s presence. After a while, they both relaxed into the hug, allowing the tension to leave the room.

Pressing a kiss into Helena’s hair while her thumb continued in soothing circles felt like the most natural thing in the world.

Only afterwards, Myka tensed, knowing she had crossed the line of everything that remained unspoken.

To her surprise, Helena chuckled. She leaned back to smile at Myka, her hand remaining at Myka’s back.

They had never been this close. It would take only a slight shift of their positions for Myka to lean in and kiss her. It took a lot to stop herself from doing exactly that.

Despite Helena looking at her like she knew exactly what Myka was thinking, and not losing her smile, Myka did not just do that.

“You know,” Helena said conversationally, her smirk widening, “Traditionally, people do things in a different order.”

She put her hand up to push a lock of Myka’s hair behind her ear, her mouth opening in astonishment when when Myka’s breathing became shallow.

“I mean, there’s flirting first, we did that one right,” reclaiming her smirk, “But usually there’s physical closeness, declarations of love, or the other way around, and only after all of that, people are willing to risk their lives for the other.”

Myka leaned forward and kissed her, swallowed the surprised gasp, kissed her until the faintest trace of the smirk was gone, until there was no breath left in her lungs, until she could feel Helena’s hands on her body, desperately trying to get ever closer, until they were both lost in each other.

Until there was a squeak from the hallway.

“Frack! Sorry!”

They sprang apart, Myka swayed further away out of Helena's personal space, but Helena squeezed her arm reassuringly, pulling her closer again, before they both turned to Claudia, who was standing beneath the threshold, shielding her eyes.

“You may look, Claudia,” Helena’s voice was surprisingly calm, while Myka still felt so much and had no handle on all of that.

Embarrassment and happiness and the way her entire face and neck and body felt hot and still tingled and she didn’t manage to look away from Helena, who seemed calm and composed as she addressed Claudia. If it weren’t for the slight pink tinge to her cheeks, the way her lips were a little bit swollen, pupils blown... 

How long had they been standing there?

“You may also come in.”

“Are you.. visiting? Back? Just checking in for a little hanky-panky?”

Myka closed her eyes, hot neck growing even hotter, but Helena laughed, understanding that the last utterance came from Claudia’s fear of sounding too needy.

“I’m back, Claudia.”

One arm moved away from Myka and Helena’s body language must have invited Claudia for a hug because the next moment, Claudia was there between them, squeezing them both tight.

“I’m so, so sorry, Myka.”

Oh.

Finally, Myka hugged Claudia back completely, meeting Helena’s eyes over Claudia’s head.

“Everything’s good, Claud.”

And she felt it. Like everything was, indeed, good.

Helena stroked over Claudia’s back.

“You’ve shown me up, young Lady.”

“I really didn’t want to. Not like that,” Claudia murmured into her shoulder.

“You didn’t know,” Helena assured her. “But I also had to learn that the Regents or at least Caturanga had to clear my inventions, ensuring their safety, if I wasn’t the only one using them.”

Claudia nodded quickly, the movement clipped.

“Lesson learned.”

“Without anyone being harmed,” Helena assured her and Myka nodded slowly.

“Yes, Claudia, everyone is fine, okay?”

Claudia nodded again and detached herself.

“Yes, thank you. I think I needed to hear that.”

Then she looked at Helena.

“How come you’re here?”

Her voice held a different kind of wonder than Myka felt, a different kind happiness.

“Well, it has to do with your repair of my time machine, enabling a situation I thought was impossible without me.”

Claudia, for her part, understood almost immediately. She crushed both of them in another hug before taking a step back, face clean of anguish, almost back to her impish look that told Myka that she was up to something.

“All’s well that ends well?”

Helena shook her head and looked at Myka.

“This is not the end. It’s the beginning.”

Myka’s heart decided that normal heart rates were for other people while Claudia groaned.

“Sappy.”

“Then leave,” Myka told her without looking away. Helena’s grin was widening.

“It’s my kitchen, too. I get to make myself breakfast in my kitchen.”

But Myka ignored her and pulled Helena in for another kiss. Because she could do that now.

“GET A ROOM!”

Helena chuckled and Myka felt it everywhere.

Getting a room sounded like a very good idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could not resist that ending. It might sound trite, but it felt strangely fitting. I hope you found it fitting as well and enjoyed it.
> 
> If you’ve read until here, please let me know what you thought.
> 
> Nothing would make me happier than a comment.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is already finished, I only need to clean it up a little and rewrite the ending, so I'll be posting the chapters after editing over the next couple of days/weeks.
> 
> Oh, if you watch Sanctuary and expect Thomas or Liam there, you'll be disappointed. They are, as far as I remember, entirely my own.
> 
> Please let me know what you think!


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